Herman Cain and the Gospel of Simple

This post originally appeared on Slate.

A weak front-runner is challenged by a come-from-nowhere candidate wielding a tax plan. Then it was Bob Dole, Steve Forbes, and the "flat tax." Now it's Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, and the "9-9-9 plan." Republicans can be forgiven for having flashbacks to 1996.

Fifteen years ago, one conservative summed up his enthusiasm for Dole by saying it was like kissing your sister. With Romney, it may be more like kissing a mannequin of your sister. Cain is now the third candidate, after Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, to rise in the polls as a challenger to the perceived front-runner: According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Cain is actually running ahead of Romney among Republicans, 27 percent to 23 percent. He is also pushing a catchy tax proposal that has won him a lot of attention.

But what really makes Cain different is that he is the most articulate advocate of the Gospel of Simple: the idea that solutions are not as complex as the experts say, and that much of our current mess has been caused by those preaching complexity.

At the last debate Cain took aim at Romney, asking him to name all 59 points in his economic plan. Romney responded that the economic picture was more complicated than that: "Simple answers are always very helpful, but oftentimes inadequate."Afterward Cain dismissed Romney's "put down" him, saying "simplicity is genius." If this sounds familiar, it's a version of what Ross Perot used to say repeatedly.

This argument for simplicity resonates with Cain supporters like Diane Harris of Naples, Fla., who voted for Cain in a straw poll of conservative activists in Florida last month. "Because Romney is a politician and a bureaucrat he'd say that. Bureaucrats take forever. They never take the simple course to get anything accomplished. He has a big 'ole plan. We're tired of that. There are common-sense ways to fix stuff but people keep adding more and more levels until it's an anchor around your neck and you're in the water."

A listing of the people who preach complexity would closely resemble the cast of modern villains in politics today: lawyers, career politicians, establishment party bosses, and the media. Complexity is what's behind Romney's problem, because it's code for lack of principle and shifting positions. When Cain supporters and conservatives hear about complexity, they hear loopholes being created. As my colleague David Weigel points out, that's what's behind the power of the 9-9-9 plan: fairness. No one can get a lawyer to weasel them a better deal.

In this respect, Cain is not just the non-Romney, he is also the anti-Obama. The president sets marathon records for the length of his answers. This isn't know-nothingism--Cain's support in the current Journal poll comes from college-educated voters.

Cain's 9-9-9 plan: A solution or a slogan?
CBSNews.com special report: Election 2012

This was the role Perry was supposed to play. It was also Donald Trump's appeal. But Trump didn't run, and Perry is still in a tailspin. Cain's problem may be that he lacks the organization, which in turn may keep him from turning his support into a viable campaign. But this lack of organization is no deterrent to his supporters--in fact, it's one of his advantages. It's evidence of his authenticity.

Cain now must find some way to stay in his moment in the spotlight in a way that the other non-Romney candidates have not. His 9-9-9 plan has taken considerable flak from both the left, which thinks it hurts the poor, and the right, where anti-tax advocates like Grover Norquist worry about the sales tax. Cain also might have to answer for his support of the TARP bailout, which rankles the same Tea Party supporters who adore him.

The gospel of simple relies on the same thing hope and change did: the pleasing sound of lines confidently spoken. The downside of this simplicity is that it can be a mask for a candidate who isn't doing his homework and doesn't want to bother. That's what Cain's advisers who quit his campaign this summer charged: He wasn't really committed to doing the hard work of running for president. There's a whiff of this in Cain's answers to criticism. Responding to a critic of the sales tax portion of his plan Cain told the New Hampshire voter "are you happy with the current tax code? Do we know what's in it? At least we know what's in this." That's not really a reason. A lot of Cain's answers lack the crispness of that 1994 debate with Bill Clinton.

In 1996, Forbes was such an unknown that Dole was able to define him and beat him once the voting started. It was a very negative campaign that bled Dole of money. That isn't likely to be how the Cain and Romney matchup ends. Cain doesn't have the money. He also endorsed Romney in 2008, which makes it harder to argue he has a disqualifying flaw. Cain has tapped into enthusiasm and is having his moment. Seeing how he turns that into votes is more complicated.

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[jms133]

Cain is right,you know.It couldn't be simpler.The middle class and poor will simply be paying twice what they are now.The rich and corporations will simply be paying less.Social Security,Medicare,Medicaid,food stamps,Supplemental Security,other government programs for the poor and indigent will simply disappear.The simple corporate take over of the federal government will be complete.Simple military adventures around the world will increase.Herman Cain is owned by the so-called "American Freedom Party"which in turn is owned by the Koch brothers.If he was elected,they would rule the country with him as president in name only.Many of Cains staffers are former AFP executives and in the pocket of the billionaire Koch brothers.Simple enough?

[jms133]

Herman Cain is a member of the billionaire boys club ruled over by the Koch brothers.The so-called American Freedom Party is also owned by the Koch brothers.Many of Cains election staffers are AFP members.If he is elected the sellout to corporations of the government will be complete.The Koch brothers will be Americas rulers with Cain as the figurehead and spokesman.The new aristocracy will have arisen.Simple,huh?

[jms133]

Cain is right,you know.It couldn't be simpler.The middle class and poor will simply be paying twice what they are now.The rich and corporations will simply be paying less.Social Security,Medicare,Medicaid,food stamps,Supplemental Security,other government programs for the poor and indigent will simply disappear.The simple corporate take over of the federal government will be complete.Simple military adventures around the world will increase.Herman Cain is owned by the so-called "American Freedom Party"which in turn is owned by the Koch brothers.If he was elected,they would rule the country with him as president in name only.Many of Cains staffers are former AFP executives and in the pocket of the billionaire Koch brothers.Simple enough?

[euge005]

We have already seen what happens when an unqualified man that cannot think beyond simple becomes President. He destroys the economy and starts wars. He allows terrorist attacks through inaction and inability. We are still paying the price for that blunder in 2000 when the GOP and thrir corrupt judges appointed someone unfit for any public office. How much will they spend to do it again? As much as it takes. The owners of the GOP have most of the power and the money, they are destroying the middle class and the workers of this country. They will not stop until they have reinstituted economic Feudalism.

[JV1970]

The so-called "genius" Harvard law professor hasn't done any better! The economy is WORSE since he took office!

[doneinone]

Art Laffer the Godfather of supply-side economics has endorsed Cains 9-9-9 plan. Remember the Laffer Curve?

[Lindag10]

That just SHOWS it won't work. We've had supply side economics (lower income and capital gains taxes) for 10 years and how many jobs has it produced? The country can't withstand any more of this crap.

[slappy-mcjohnson]

by Dan1523 October 14, 2011 7:32 PM EDT
Lindag10 October 14, 2011 7:20 PM EDT
Dan: Why should taxpayers pay YOUR retirement? You didn't pay into it like those who paid into Social Security.
________________________________________________________________
I have a contract with the gov. I served 20 years in the Army for a return. I acually make a lot more money now and pay way more thgan enough to pay for my own nilitary benefits.

---------------

Dan has a CONTRACT, surely, but no principles, or he'd give up his taxpayer-funded entitlement.

And you're right, Lindag - he didn't contribute ONE CENT.

.

[Lindag10]

Slow: I have no doubt his tombstone will read "Good Riddance".

[askagain]

My problem is not with Social Security but with the way the Social Security monies have been raided repeatedly by our government to pay for things not related to Social Security. No insurance company would be allowed to spend money required as reserves to pay future claims. Why then, was the government allowed to spend money intended for Social Security reciprients? Having enough money to pay present and future Sicial Security reciprients would not be a issue if the government had kept its hands off the money people have been paying into Social security since its inception.

[Lindag10]

You are entirely correct in this statement. Unfortunately the fox (the government) was left to guard the henhouse and the result is the trouble Social Security is in now. I remember when I was a child there was a huge scandal about one of the labor union's pension fund which had been raided by the leaders of the union (I kind of think it was the Teamsters) and my dad reassuring mom that Social Security wouldn't have that happen as the money was in a trust fund administered by the government. Dad was wrong and now we have the current mess caused by greedy politicians of both parties. Unfortunately most of the politicians that created the problem are long gone and can't be held accountable, so all we can do is try to clean up after them which will call for sacrifice on everyone's part. The program could be fixed, but not by Cain's plan.

[euge005]

Agreed, so fully fund it with prudent, modest taxes on the rich and means tests. Social Security is not in immediate or unfixable trouble. Without the Tea Party and the Koch Brothers Congress could do it on a single afternoon.

[joule18]

Maybe you should study the 9-9-9 plan better. This would taxes on earned income to 9% for everyone and that includes the social security portion. Since you now contribute over 7% for just your portion of SS, everyone that works would come out ahead.

[Lindag10]

There's more to the 999 plan than JUST the income tax portion. If you JUST look at it like most people seem to do, it looks nice. BUT there's the national sales tax component that includes a 9% sales tax on everything you purchase new, plus a 9% tax on a person's labor (if you have your car repaired the mechanic's labor charge would be taxed at 9% as well as the parts), your housing would be taxed at 9% (so when you pay your rent or mortgage a 9% federal tax would be added to the amount), your food would be taxed at 9%, your utlilites would be taxed at 9% on top of the charge for the product. This tax would be in ADDITION to the sales tax levied by the state in which you live. Then the taxes on corporations would be lowered to 9%. On average coporations pay about a 26% tax on their profits, so the revenue generated from the taxes on them would drop considerably and they would make out like bandits. Yes I DO know there are some corporations that pay little or no taxes, but they are the exception, not the rule. Unless they TRIPLE their profits (which seems unlikely to me) the revenue from them would drop off by nearly 2/3. 999 is a catchy phrase but not anything I'd want to have happen. Since Social Security and Medicare taxes aren't collected to specifically go to those programs how long do you think they'd last? Then there's the impact on the retired and disabled, their costs of living would go up 9% as most of them spend their ENTIRE income on the necessities of life. Yes, please do study this program and look at ALL the aspects of it.

[euge005]

Bunk. It is another poorly disguised effort to institutionalize poverty for most Americans and we can see through it. I wonder if Romney is funding Caine on the side to dilute the crazies on the far right that do not like him. That might allow him to win the primaries.

[billyweeder]

I hope that with the 999 plan, Cain can turn off all disasters just like in Sim City. Because if he doesn't and something big happens, we're toast and he's just burnt crust.

[Lindag10]

You don't get it. If a natural disaster happens, it's the victims fault and he will have no problem telling them that they should have worked hard and prepared themselves for success.

[Lindag10]

Dan: Not ALL disasters are floods. Have you ever heard of tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes?

[Anotheryahoo]

We need to force Caine on talking about Social Security, if his 9 9 9 plan eliminates Social Security this will Eliminate his presidential run period!

[Lindag10]

Dan the military retiree who gets a pension funded by the US taxpayer. Why should anyone pay taxes to fund Dan's retirement?