One way it’s easy to tell Republican presidential candidate and former Godfather’s Pizza President Herman Cain is now firmly in top-tier status: A satellite truck and about six TV news cameras were covering his campaign stop in Bartlett mid-day Friday.
And lots of people. The crowd easily measured several hundred and was around 1,000-strong, by one estimate.
Cain’s campaign bus, with his face plastered on the side and the words “Follow me” above Facebook and Twitter icons on the door, was parked in front of a pathway toward a large, open area at W.J. Freeman Park. Cain was in a black SUV that drove up with a police escort.
He emerged from the vehicle wearing a cowboy hat and raised both hands, eliciting a roar from the crowd.
One campaign volunteer paced through the crowd before Cain began speaking, holding a large sign attached to a pole. It encouraged potential volunteers who wanted to know more information to aim their phones at a large QR code.
Cain immediately referenced his local roots after stepping up to the microphone and greeting the crowd.
“One of the best-kept secrets about Herman Cain is I was born not too far from here,” he said.
He mentioned some relatives in the area and added, “And as far as I’m concerned, all of ya’ll are my relatives today!”
Several handmade signs were visible in the crowd, like one that read “We like ‘simple’ – 999” referring to Cain’s now-famous 9-9-9 economic plan.
The numbers refer to instituting a 9 percent corporate tax rate, 9 percent personal income tax and 9 percent national sales tax.
Cain told the Bartlett crowd his goal for an economic plan was that it be both “simple and transparent.” That’s also his answer for criticism that’s been building around the plan. The criticism is, namely, that 9-9-9 would either add a new tax burden in states where the sales tax is currently lower than 9 percent and that while his personal income tax rate may start low, at 9 percent, the government wouldn’t likely keep it there.
His response – the 9-9-9 identity is simple enough to be ingrained in voters’ minds, and they’d be able to know and to respond if the government moved away from that 9 percent baseline.
Among the signs in the crowd visible as Cain spoke: a so-called Gadsden flag, with the famous snake symbol and the phrase “Don’t tread on me.”
Some of the highlights from Cain’s speech:
“The voice of the people is more powerful than the voice of the media.”
On his plan for dealing with the growing competitiveness of the Chinese economy – “Outgrow China.”
Cain described his foreign policy as, “Peace through strength and clarity.” As in, the U.S. should better clarify who its friends and enemies are and act accordingly.
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