Herman Cain’s Support During The Election

Traditionally, politicians running for one of the top offices of government have had many years experiencing in the political ring, usually starting in a small local political role and working their way up the ladder. However, that all changed this year when political candidate Herman Cain threw his hat into the ring to become the presidential candidate of the Republican party. Cain’s campaign trail has run far from smoothly, but he is relatively well supported by a large number of right wing supporters. O

The bumper stickers bear the phrase ‘Honkies for Herman’ and are designed to show how the Republican candidate is tearing down previously existing boundaries of racism and negative language in the US. In fact, the stickers were not officially created by the Cain campaign at all, but were instead released by the offshoot of the Republican movement, The Tea Party.

On the surface, it would appear that measures such as these are helping to improve Cain’s image and electability – he has shot ahead of the other Republican candidates in recent weeks and months and is now the front running candidate to lead the Republicans in the next election. However, many people consider moves such as the bumper stickers a step backwards rather than forwards.

Larry Little, a professor at Winston-Salem State University, commented on the release of the stickers: “It’s almost like saying the N-word. You don’t do that sort of thing. We want to get away from that negative classification of people.”

This is also not the first time Cain has courted controversy during the election campaign. He has been repeatedly mocked for appearing incoherent and uneducated about important matters of home and international affairs. When asked whether he agreed with President Obama’s stance on Libya, Cain delayed and stuttered a response before checking with the interviewer what Obama’s stance actually was – the fact that he didn’t know initially led many to have serious concerns about his suitability for office.

His value of education has also been called into question. Cain’s famous comment led of ‘we need a leader, not a reader’ led to outrage among much of the general populace, positioning Cain as disdainful of education and unconcerned with such ideals. The allegation that Cain lifted the phrase directly out of an episode of ‘The Simpsons’ furthered distanced him from the theme of a good education and led to more questions about his political savvy.

Despite the negative views of the bumper stickers, the Cain movement has yet to distance itself from them and highlight the fact that it has nothing to do with them. Whether the extra spotlight shone on his campaign race is appreciated or whether Cain thinks they are funny is unsure, although at the moment, it seems like the old adage of ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ is ringing true.