Cain: Public Now Sees Obama’s Weakness – He’s Beatable In 2012

Conservative businessman Herman Cain, who is mulling a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, tells Newsmax that President Barack Obama’s “leadership weaknesses” are becoming apparent. And Cain insists that he can defeat Obama at the polls.

Cain, a newspaper columnist and former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, also says the United States can achieve energy independence if Obama allows the country to exploit its abundant natural resources fully.

Cain won a straw poll at a meeting of tea party activists in Arizona earlier this month. And a Gallup poll released last Tuesday showed Cain with one of the highest "positive intensity scores" of all the potential GOP presidential candidates.

In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV last Wednesday, Cain, who calls himself an “ABC” for American black conservative, discussed his possible presidential run.

“In January we officially announced the presidential exploratory committee,” he says.

“That’s when you put your toe in the water. Well, the water’s now up to my neck. We’re working toward making a definitive statement, go or no go, within the next couple of months.”

Asked whether he believes he can defeat Obama in 2012, Cain responds: “Yes I do. Here’s why: I’m not a politician. I’ve never held public office. One of the questions I’m asked is, since you’ve never held public office, do you think voters are going to vote for someone who is a businessman problem solver? My response is, you’re right. Most of the people in Washington have held public office. How’s that working out for you?”

“I happen to believe that because of my business experience as a problem solver, a lot of voters are going to recognize that.”

As for Obama, “I think his leadership weaknesses are becoming more and more apparent to more and more people.

“He didn’t surround himself with the right people.”

The price of gasoline keeps rising, pushing food prices up, yet Obama resists a significant expansion of oil drilling and “voters going to make him to pay for that next year,” Cain asserts.

“Voters are not stupid. When you go to Brazil and loan them $2 billion so they can enhance their drilling capabilities and then tell the Brazilians, we’re going to be your best customers,” voters will respond.

Obama said in Brazil last month that the United States looks forward to buying oil that nation drills offshore.

“Cain adds: “We’ve got oil in the outer Continental shelf, we’ve got oil in Alaska, we are the OPEC of coal, we are the OPEC of natural gas — in other words, we have all the resources that are necessary to become energy independent — yet this president puts moratoriums on our ability to drill for oil and he goes and helps other countries to drill for oil.

“The voters understand that. They’re getting that message.”

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