I'm often bewildered by how the media chooses to approach candidates for national office. Take for example their current love, Herman Cain. Here we have a man who is doing a time-honored America tradition of running for the President to enrich himself. Many have come before him(Steve Forbes, Jesse Jackson), but none have done so with such ease.
Many candidates hock a book during their campaign(another time honored tradition), but Cain has created a new model of Profit Politician. He is a motivational speaker. A seller of easy fixes for tough problems. Much like the tonic sales man of the turn of the century. Cain's goal is not to win a nomination, or even compete. His goal was to raise his popularity which in turn would raise his speaking fee. It's simple business. Why he took off is another matter.
Cain's success comes from his image. He is (or is playing) the finally distillation of the modern conservative psyche. He is a business man that believes he alone made himself rich, without the help of his employees. He has no sense of social justice. He rails against Muslims and immigrants as destroyers of America, yet if his own morals are questioned on issues he is being persecuted for being <Insert Group Name Here>. His ideas lack logic, common sense, and a basic understanding of public and international policy; yet to argue them is to attack the man personally. What confuses the talking heads of the world is that he is all these things and a Southern Black man who grew up during the civil rights era.
