Herman Cain Straight Up
Every effort has been made to provide these quotes in context. That said, for the broader context, please refer to the quote source.
Herman Cain on himself.
“Hello, I'm Herman Cain. I am not a politician. I am a problem-solver with over 40 years of business and executive experience, father of two, grandfather of three, and I'm here tonight because it's not about us. It's about those grandkids.” Debate 6/13/11 St. Anselm College, New Hampshire. CNN.com - Transcripts.
“I would bring a sense of humor to the White House, because America's too uptight.” Debate, 9/12/11 CNN-Tea Party Republican Debate in Tampa, Fla. - NYTimes.com
“I happen to believe that God wanted me to stay here so I could try and make a difference. At first, I thought He wanted me to be CEO of a restaurant chain. But I realized He really wanted me to be the chief executive of the United States. My bad.” 8/12/11 GOP Debate, Iowa State Fair. The Bennington Vale Evening Transcript: Herman Cain Wows GOP Debate by Citing His Two Muses: Pizza and Donna Summer
“Hello, I'm Herman Cain. I am not a politician. I am a problem-solver with over 40 years of business and executive experience, father of two, grandfather of three, and I'm here tonight because it's not about us. It's about those grandkids.” Debate 6/13/11 St. Anselm College, New Hampshire. CNN.com - Transcripts.
"No matter how many years you're on this planet, it is but a speck of time on that timeline called eternity….In your speck, you must do what you can do to make your community better." 9/11/11 GOP Presidential Hopeful Visits Oaks Rally - Pottstown, PA Patch
The Economy
“‘This economy is on life support. …. we need a bold solution, not one that tinkers around the edges, not one that allows the politicians to continue to pick winners and losers.’ Debate, 9/12/11 CNN-Tea Party Republican Debate in Tampa, Fla. - NYTimes.com
"Do you want more rhetoric, or do you want solutions?" Steven Smith, 9/14/2011 Cain is the one | Concord Monitor
Small business
“One restaurant is the basic fundamental business unit in this country.” Debate, 9/12/11 CNN-Tea Party Republican Debate in Tampa, Fla. - NYTimes.com
“….yes, I know how to be pro-worker, because I came from a pro-worker family. My mother was a domestic worker; my father was a barber, a janitor and a chauffeur, all at the same time.” Debate, 9/12/11 CNN-Tea Party Republican Debate in Tampa, Fla. - NYTimes.com
“I was a worker before I was an executive and before I was a business owner.” Debate, 9/12/11 CNN-Tea Party Republican Debate in Tampa, Fla. - NYTimes.com
The Federal Reserve Bank
“I don't believe in ending the Fed, I believe in fixing the Fed. For many, many decades the Fed did its job when it was singularly focused on sound money. When we wake up in the morning, we expect 60 minutes to be in an hour. Now when we wake up, because of some of the actions of the current Fed, we don't know what the value of the dollar's going to be. In 1988 it took 1.2 dollars in order to be able to convert from Canadian to U.S. It is now totally reversed because of the current policies of the Fed.” Debate, 9/12/11 CNN-Tea Party Republican Debate in Tampa, Fla. - NYTimes.com
Energy Policy
“The first thing that I would do in order to assure that we get on the road to energy independence -- and I do believe that we can, because we do have the natural resources to do so -- we've got to remove some of those barriers out of the way that are being created by the federal government. I would start with an EPA that's gone wild. … That's where we start. Debate, 9/12/11 CNN-Tea Party Republican Debate in Tampa, Fla. - NYTimes.com
Federal Regulation
“I would put together a regulatory reduction commission. For every agency, starting with the EPA, this Regulatory Reduction Commission -- one of my guiding principles is, if you want to solve a problem, go to the source closest to the problem. So the people that I would appoint to that commission will be people who have been abused by the EPA. That would be the commission to straighten out the regulatory burden.” Debate, 9/12/11 CNN-Tea Party Republican Debate in Tampa, Fla. - NYTimes.com
Sharia Law
“…never will I apologize for saying that Sharia law does not belong in the United States of America. It has about as much of a place here as damn pineapples on a pizza. Just ain’t right. You know what belongs on a pie, though? Ham. Pork. That’s America. And that ain’t allowed in Sharia law neither.” .” 8/12/11 GOP Debate, Iowa State Fair. The Bennington Vale Evening Transcript: Herman Cain Wows GOP Debate by Citing His Two Muses: Pizza and Donna Summer
Islam
“When you interview a person for a job… you look at their work record, you look at their resume, and then you have a one-on-one personal interview. During that personal interview, like in the business world and anywhere else, you are able to get a feeling for how committed that person is to the Constitution, how committed they are to the mission of the organization” 6/13/11 St. Anselm College, New Hampshire. Debating Islam Last Night: Cain and Gingrich Able, But Not Romney and CNN.com - Transcripts.
Unions
“Unions represent approximately 10 to 12 percent of the work force. What about the rest of us 88 percent? What are we, chopped liver? “ Interview with Stu Varney, 2/21/11 Herman Cain Takes on Obama's Response to Wisconsin Protests - Interviews - Your World with Cavuto - Fox News
Obama
“…a president that procrastinates puts people's lives in jeopardy." Politico, Interview with Sean Hannity. 5/5/11 Cain speculates that prez 'jeopardized' bin Laden mission - seattlepi.com