The Phoenix

Friends,

In my last blog post, I made some predictions and observations. Namely, that Cain would not drop out of the race and that he would win the nomination. Well, some would say "What a difference a day makes". Well, I was gone most of the day yesterday doing some work, and when I called my wife, she told me the news about Herman. I was sad, angry and a bit betrayed by a political process that is broken, fickle voters and by the end of a campaign that I believed in to my core. I thought yesterday that Cain was finished, and by all rights, he may well be. He did, after all, say he was "suspending" his campaign.

Then, a strange thing happened in my mind. I woke up this morning with the strange belief that this was not the end for Cain, but merely a break. My thought is that he would not have opened up a new headquarters if he was done. He would not have gotten on the ballot last last week if he didn't want to continue. We would have heard members of his team running for other campaigns. It is early, but none of that has happened. Even more interesting, Cain's support remains strong on outlets such as Facebook and his wife created "Women for Cain". He is even winning the most recent Fox poll on preference among voters. Why would Gloria have done this is Cain was really quitting? It doesn't make sense. Moreover, if Cain's name is on the ballot of early primary states, what is to stop us from voting for our candidate?

Now, I could be wrong (and I have been wrong before), but here is my take on Cain: he isn't done with this race. Quite to the contrary. Without knowing details, I find it hard to believe that his family, despite the pain, would ask him to quit. This country and its fate is far to important to leave to regular politicians. So, what will he do? My thinking is that he and his legal team will use every avenue possible to go after the accusers. He will sue and reclaim his good name. Then, once that happens, I believe you will see a newly re-energized Cain running full throttle for the Republican nomination.

Perhaps this is wishful thinking, and perhaps this is what I want to believe. After all, his was the one candidacy that I was the most excited to be a part of...there hasn't been another in my recent memory. If I am wrong, so be it. I will pick a nominee and then support whomever runs against Obama. But for now, I believe the Cain train has merely pulled into the station for refueling...this race, folks, is FAR from over.