By Patrick B. McGuigan

Published: 27-Oct-2010

Entrepreneur Herman Cain came to Oklahoma City this week and left a room full of conservatives fired up. With a a handful of liberals in attendance, he engaged in civil yet substantive discussions over consequential issues.

One week to the day before elections across the nation, Cain said in an interview with CapitolBeatOK, “Conservative Republicans have the chance to take control of Congress, and this time the result must be different. I say ‘conservative’ because there is a difference, as we’ve certainly seen, between the regular Republicans and the conservative Republicans. Job #1 is to take the U.S. House of Representatives. The gains in the Senate are important but controlling that chamber is not as important as controlling the body where all revenue bills must originate.”

Cain said, and repeated in his speech Tuesday evening to supporters of Americans for Prosperity Foundation-Oklahoma, “The country is on a fast track to socialism. The American people have awakened and they’re going to take the country back on November 2.” He said he is part of “a citizen movement, whether it’s the Tea Party, or LibertyCentral.org or Americans for Prosperity, or FreedomWorks.”

Cain continued, “The Tea Party often gets singled out, but they are not alone. And let me say I have spoken frequently at their rallies and events. The political Left and many in the media are trying to limit, minimize, demonize and bury the Tea Party movement, but they will not succeed. The good news is they cannot stop it, they will not succeed because this is bigger than any one organization or group or person. It’s here to stay, the leaders are fresh and determined.

“What the critics miss is the first thing: that the majority of the American people agree with the concerns that have been raised; they disagree with the direction President Barack Obama and the liberals have tried to move the country in over the last 18 months. The United States of America does not want to become the United States of Europe, and on November 2 the course correction will begin. That’s the best way to summarize what this movement is, and what is about to begin as a result of the election on Tuesday.”

Cain directly engaged with the audience in a question-and-answer period after dinner. Asked if he was running for president, Cain first responded by seeking to CapitolBeatOK’s reporter in the room, saying, “There was one reporter here. Is he still here?” To appreciative laughter after identifying this writer, he continued in this vein:

“For several months I have been in prayerful consideration about running for president.
We are building a national grass roots network and supporting them. We are gathering funds for the groups I’ve talked about. We are waiting to see what happens in November. I do believe the people of America are looking for a problem-solver rather than a politician.”

His greatest passion throughout the evening was criticism of “ObamaCare,” as critics have dubbed the federal health care legislation.

Cain predicted:  “I believe the Republicans will defund parts of this health care bill and force changes in it. They will take away the president’s intention to hire 16,000 more IRS agents. So the health care police won’t be funded. The bill creates or empowers 151 commissions and boards. I believe those will be undone. The Republicans will indeed repeal and replace much of the health care bill.”

Many young people attended the event on Tuesday, October 26 at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame on Lincoln Blvd. Several present were, like Cain, African-American. He spoke directly to them: “Concerning the youth of America, they are in greater danger than any of us.” Concerning efforts to reverse massive federal deficits, he said,  “This fight is about you, and your grandchildren. We have to do right by them.”

Cain lamented the state of national politics, saying, “There is a bipartisan stalemate. Let’s trip away the party labels. Leave the labels at the door. Focus on issues and begin to break the labels, strip away the labels that divide us. Some people use the word compromise, but right should not be compromised. Compromise has gotten us a lot of half-assed solutions! We can find some ways to agree.”

He concluded, “The first thing is to make sure we’re working on solving the right problems. Take the solutions to the American people. Don’t shove it down their throats. Without trust, we will never break down the partisan divide.”