With Republicans still not having a clear frontrunner for President in 2012, Herman Cain could capitalize on this reality and give Republicans a person to rally behind all the way to sealing the Republican nomination for President in 2012. I know that many people reading this piece may not be familiar with Herman Cain. This piece will help you to get to know who Herman Cain is a little better by offering you some background information about him. Moreover, this piece will present arguments about why he could win the Republican Party’s Presidential nomination in 2012 and why he could defeat President Obama.

Herman Cain was raised in Atlanta, Georgia and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He is 65 years of age. He graduated from Morehouse College, one of the leading historically Black colleges in the nation, with an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and minor in Physics. While working for the United States Department of Navy, he earned a master’s degree in Computer Science from Purdue University. Cain is a highly accomplished businessman and proven leader. He has served as a business analyst for Coca-Cola, Vice-President of Pillsbury, and Chief Executive Officer of Godfather’s Pizza. Herman Cain managed 400 Burger King stores in Philadelphia and took this region of stores from being the least profitable to the most profitable in the nation in just three years. Cain has also served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Restaurants Association.

Herman Cain has never held a political office. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004 in Georgia and did exceptionally well, but was not able to defeat the strong name recognition of now Senator Johnny Isakson.

Is there any early credible evidence to suggest that Herman Cain even has a chance to win the Republican nomination for President in 2012? In the first state to vote for the Republican Party’s Presidential nomination, Iowa, Cain won a straw poll by a large margin. Look at the results of the Iowa straw poll here: http://draftcain.org/blog.aspx.

In the 2010 Midterm Election, we witnessed the significant influence that the Tea Party had on the outcomes of elections. The Tea Party was instrumental in helping Republicans to take the U.S. House from Democrats, aided Republicans in picking up the most new U.S. House seats in history, helped closed the gap between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate, and assisted in the winning a number of new Republican governorships. Unquestionably, the Tea Party is a force to be reckoned with in the current national political milieu. The Tea Party will certainly have a tremendous influence on who will receive the Republican nomination for President. With the Tea Party’s demonstrated success in the 2010 Midterm Election, the fact that Herman Cain is one of the Tea Party’s favorite candidates for President greatly increases his chances of becoming President in 2012.

Ten years ago, the fact that Herman Cain has never held a political office would have prevented him from having a chance to win the Republican nomination and become President. However, there’s a strong anti-incumbent and anti-establishment political mood all across the country. Cain’s great business experience and his marketing of himself as a “problem-solver could help him to capture the Republican nomination for President. Of the Republican candidates who are running and who may run, he’s among the most inspiring and charismatic.

If he’s able to secure the Republican Party’s nomination for President, he can be a formidable candidate against President Obama. Cain has the anti-incumbent and anti-establishment political mood in his favor, the support of the Tea Party, experience as an accomplished business leader, and the ability to communicate in a way that enables him to go toe-to-toe with President Obama. I really think that his marketing of himself as a “problem-solver” is going to become as powerful as messages of “hope” and “change” were for President Obama in 2008. Messages of “hope” and “change” are not going to work for President Obama in 2012. If Cain is his opponent, he will not be able to enjoy the advantage of people wanting to vote for him just because they could make history by voting for the first Black President of the United States, considering Cain is Black.

Herman Cain’s strategy of building a strong grassroots movement in support of him in the early voting states is proving to gain him some serious support in those early states. Many people vigorously oppose President Obama’s healthcare reform bill. Cain led the fight against HillaryCare during President Clinton’s tenure in office when he led the National Restaurants Association. This opposition to HillaryCare, which shares many affinities with President Obama’s healthcare bill, can assist Cain in garnering more national support.

Don’t simply discredit the possibility that Herman Cain can win the Republican nomination for President and defeat President Obama in 2012 because you don’t see and hear about him all of time. Guess what? We didn’t know much about President Obama when he was running for President in 2008. Remember that?

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison