@HK_SchwartzHannah Kate Schwartz
Cain Says ‘We Need a Leader, Not a Reader’
By SUSAN SAULNYNASHUA, N.H. – Herman Cain began his stump speech at a rally here today with one of his signature lines: “Aw, shucky ducky!” he said. “I feel good today.”
But for someone who professed to be in high spirits, Mr. Cain spent a lot of time in his speech on the defensive, making especially pointed commentary against “the liberals” and “my competitors” for “all the junk they’ve thrown at me over the last two weeks.”
“Some people want to convict me in the court of public opinion,” he said, an oblique reference to the accusations of sexual harassment against him from the 1990’s that were recently revealed. “But the people on the Cain train don’t get off because of that crap.”
At another point, he told the enthusiastic crowd of about 250 people gathered at a Radisson Hotel: “They’re measuring my pauses! Every word.”
Here, Mr. Cain was referring to a video that went viral on the Internet earlier this week that showed him struggling over several minutes to answer a question posed by the editorial board of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about American intervention in the Libyan uprising.
Putting his own spin on what was widely viewed as an embarrassing flub, he called the stumble “a powerful pause.”
“They spend more time focused on when I’m not talking than when other candidates are talking,” he said of the news media.
“Here’s the point that they’re missing,” he continued. “I think before I speak. I know that’s a novel idea. And sometimes I have to stop and gather my thoughts.”
Then he added: “Who knows every detail of every country or every situation on the planet? Nobody!”
“We’ve got plenty of experts,” he said. “We need a leader, not a reader.”
The crowd responded with chants of “Amen!” and “Yes, we Cain.”
Mr. Cain also sought to assure supporters in this early primary state that he will be paying attention to them. A frequent criticism of the campaign is that it has not spent enough time in New Hampshire or Iowa, which will be holding its caucuses in January.
“I’ll be back,” Mr. Cain said. “I’m not going away forever. I’ve already indicated that we’ll be back a lot.”
For most of the campaign, Mr. Cain has had only one paid staff member in New Hampshire, Charlie Spano, the state field director. But now there are four workers trying to organize delegates and voters out of an office in downtown Manchester.
Mr. Spano, a retired school teacher and veteran political organizer who lives in Scranton, Pa., moved into a long-term hotel with his wife to work for the campaign.
“Everybody wants to see more,” Mr. Spano said. “We try to schedule as much as we can.”
J.D. Gordon, Mr. Cain’s spokesman, could not say exactly when the campaign would be back. “But soon,” he said.
The next important item on the Cain agenda is a private policy meeting that is expected to be held in Atlanta next week after Thanksgiving, which Mr. Cain will spend at home with his family. Experts from a variety of fields are scheduled to brief Mr. Cain over two days on such things as energy and education policy.
A diner who shook Mr. Cain’s hand over her breakfast said she was not put off by his lack of in-depth knowledge on certain topics. “You have to gain your experience over time,” said the diner, Sharon LaBombard, 59. “I think he’s smart enough to learn.”
