Red Barron

Much has been made about where Herman Cain stands in regards to the current crop of GOP candidates.  Former Cain supporters, like myself, have ended up in many different camps.

Last night, during a Q&A session after Cain delivered the Tea Party response to the State of the Union address, Cain gave some thoughts on the two front-runners for the GOP nod.

On Gingrich and Romney, Cain said, “I think they are both excellent candidates and I am not endorsing either one.”

On which one would best be able to beat Obama in November, Cain said, “I think they both can if they can overcome their ‘ifs’.”

Cain clarified the ‘ifs’ facing both candidates as he sees them.

On Romney, “He must be more specific… Particularly when it comes to the economy.  I have looked at his plan and the 59 point plan won’t cut it.”

On Gingrich, “One of his big ifs is if he can shake off these attacks on how he left Congress in the 1990s.”

When pressed on his opinion of the character attacks on Gingrich, Cain said, “Voters aren’t stupid. They know [these attacks on Newt] were well planned.” He went on to say, “The American people are waking up to dirty gutter politics”

Last night, I had the privilege of being at the National Press Club to watch former Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain deliver the Tea Party Express response to the President’ s State of the Union.

Cain’s response was a stark contrast to the President’s speech.  While President Obama spent much of his speech trying to convince listeners that everything was great, Cain told it to us straight.  He pointed out the things we didn’t hear from Obama – the unemployment numbers, the sky-rocketing gas prices, the economy’s sluggish growth and the debt that is spiraling out of control.

In response to Obama’s rose-colored glasses “American is back” approach, Mr. Cain said – in the way only Cain can – “With all due respect Mr President, some of us are not stupid, the state of the union is NOT good.”

Cain’s response was not only a stark contrast to the Obama speech, it was a stark contrast to the milquetoast official Republican response offered by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.  Daniels speech was as vanilla as it was vague.  The Daniels response highlights everything that is wrong with the Republican Party these days:  the grassroots wants bold while the establishment wants bit by bit, the grassroots wants passion while the establishment wants passable, the grassroots wants straight talk while the establishment wants to hedge.

I am sure Governor Daniels is a good and decent man, and from all accounts a great Governor – but he is certainly not the savior of the GOP.

Cain’s response was everything that the Daniels response should have been:  bold, passionate, honest and strong.  The contrast between these two speeches reminded me of why the Tea Party continues to be so critical to the future of the GOP, the conservative movement and indeed the country.

Mr. Cain is right, “we need another revolution, not about bombs and bullets, but about brains and ballots… Washington is out touch.”

The Tea Party revolution will not occur in White House, at least not this cycle.  The sad reality is that those hopes died with the end of Mr. Cain’s White House bid.  All four of the GOP candidates remaining would be a vast improvement over Obama but none of them are Tea Party.  Not by a long shot.

The Tea Party revolution will continue at the grassroots and should continue to change the House and the Senate and state houses across the country.

A revolution doesn’t happen over night and fundamental change will not occur over night either, but anything worth having is worth fighting for.

Excited to be sitting here in the National Press Club tonight for Herman Cain’s Tea Party State of the Union response…  Watching Obama’s SOTU on the big screen in here right now, so far it’s been the typical empty Obama rhetoric with a 2012 class warfare flare…

Very excited that I will be at the Herman Cain Tea Party State of the Union response tonight…  Will try to upload some photos and get a post up tonight!

On the ground here in Manchester, NH for the GOP primary today.  All the media buzz is around a “Huntsman surge.”  Honestly, I am not sold completely sold on it.  We aren’t looking at an Iowa redux.  This won’t be a late night, Romney will win big and it will be clear early.

With that in mind, here are my predictions for tonight:

Romney 41

Huntsman 18

Paul 17

Gingrich 11

Santorum 10

Perry 2

Roemer 1

I am in NH for the GOP primary…  This morning hanging out at GOProud’s Homocon-tinental breakfast at the Radisson in Manchester…

So if you see a guy wandering the streets of Manchester in a Pirates t-shirt, you know its yours truly…

So yesterday I rolled out my Iowa predictions…  Here is how they stack up against the actual results…

Prediction  Result

Romney       27               25

Paul             22                21

Santorum   20               25

Gingrich     14               13

Perry            10               10

Bachmann   5                 5

Others           2                 1

Not too damn shabby

Set your DVRs or stay up late to see me on FOX News Red Eye tonight/tomorrow morning at 3 am…  After only getting about 4 hours sleep last night, I am sure I will be just a ball of energy and compassion tonight…

I don’t have a crystal ball, but that ain’t going to stop me (or countless others) from making predictions about tonight’s Iowa caucus results…  So here goes:

Romney       27

Paul             22

Santorum   20

Gingrich     14

Perry            10

Bachmann   5

Others           2

I think Romney’s organization coupled with the relatively good weather (pushing up the turnout) is enough for him to overcome the Santorum surge.  I think Paul holds on to finish just ahead of Santorum.  I think Gingrich finishes ahead of Perry for 4th and that Bachmann finishes dead last (among those competing) with just 5%.

I think there are 4 tickets out of Iowa.  If Perry and Bachmann finish as poorly as I expect it is hard for me to imagine how the hang on until SC – though both will be tempted.

If I am right and Romney does win in Iowa it is hard to see how he gets de-railed for the nomination.  I just don’t think there is time between Iowa and NH for Newt’s promised nuclear war against Romney to make that much of a dent in NH.