Herman  Cain is a heckuva nice guy.  He has a compelling personal story and a stunning list of business accomplishments.  It's also wonderful that he is a graduate of the university where I work and does not play the victim card of used by so many black politicians.  Recent weeks have seen him enjoy a remarkable ascendancy to the top of GOP presidential polls.  A lot of this rise is attributable to his 999 plan calling for a 9% personal income tax, 9% business income tax, and 9% national sales tax.  Being an astute businessman, Cain knows how to market effectively using a catchy and succinct slogan.  Unfortunately, 999 is not viable economic or public policy as effectively documented http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/278668/nein-nein-nein-kevin-d-williamson
by National Review's Kevin Williamson.

Cain has failed to contribute any serious governmental spending cuts proposals or to address the culture of incessant advocacy of governmental spending increases driving our policymaking.  Cain fails to admit that it would be easy for Congress to increase any of these taxes and not address the underlying spending, tax, and regulatory structure driving our economic stagnation.  He has complained about government regulations but not said which regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations he'd repeal or modify to enhance national economic competitiveness.  Do Cain and other Fair Tax advocates want to usurp states powers to levy sales taxes at the same time they proclaim their fealty to the 10th Amendment?  It's one thing to say your a problem solving businessman who can turn around companies like Burger King and Godfather's Pizza.  However, it's far more complicated to turn around the economy of the world's largest country.  We need much more substantive solutions than gotcha and gimmicky corporate sloganeering such as 999.  Cain's business experience would prove valuable in federal agencies such as the Commerce Dept. or Small Business Administration but his sloganeering is to superficial for the presidency.

Another concern about Cain is his claiming that the American people don't want a politician in the White House.  While there are plenty of politicians of both parties who have disgraced public service, a President needs to have real world political legislative or executive policymaking experience to carry out their multifaceted responsibilities.  A President needs to know the intricacies of how government agencies and legislatures do and don't work and be highly observant of their operational nuances and chameleon like personalities in order to extract funding, legislation, and consistently high quality job performance from them.  Dealing with domestic or international political leaders is far different than dealing with shareholders, boards of directors, and company employees though such business experience can have useful applications in the presidency.

I'm also very troubled by Cain's lack of awareness of international affairs.  This first occurred at a debate when he admitted he didn't understand the nature of the "right of return" issue as applied to Israel and the Palestinean Authority.  Not understanding the vital importance of this matter to Israel, our most critical ally in the Mideast, reflects an amateurism that we cannot afford in our Commander-in-Chief.  Cain has also stressed he doesn't care who the leader of ...istan is.  This is actually a surprising admission from a business leader who surely understands the importance of successful cultivating and maintaining professional and personal relationships with business associates, suppliers, and customers.  The same principal also applies to international relations.  A President needs to be able to conduct business with a variety of international leaders from different cultural, religious, and personal backgrounds.  One of the reasons President George H.W. Bush was able to build an international coalition to oust Iraq from Kuwait in 1990-1991, was having the experience of knowing a wide variety of international leaders and knowing how to effectively communicate with them to build the broad-based international coalition that was able to liberate Kuwait.  Cain needs to understand that it takes far more than "getting the best people around you" to be effective in international relations.  It takes a willingness to immerse yourself in international issues and get to know the personalities, politics, and cultures of other friendly and hostile actors on the international stage.  Such professionalism, backed up with the ability and willingness to use military force, is the essence of skilled geopolitical craftsmanship and national military leadership.  We are already seeing the consequences of foreign policy amateurism in Barack Obama's presidency.

I think it would be nice to see Cain get an important position in the next Republican administration where he could be a key economic policy advisor to the President .  Unfortunately, he does not have the broad based governmental experience or substantive knowledge to master the subtleties of international affairs to be a credible President.  Fortunately, we have the candidate with those abilities and the capacity to bring about genuine and enduring conservative political reform in Mitt Romney.