Texas Gov. Rick Perry is not the only GOP presidential candidate to come up empty when trying to make an important policy statement. Perry rival Herman Cain struggled significantly to spell out his position on Libya before the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's editorial board Monday, searching for words in embarrassed silence and at one point saying he had “all of this stuff twirling around in my head.”
Comparisons of Cain's brain freeze with Perry’s embarrassing gaffe during last week's candidates debate have already begun. Pery, in front of a national audience, forgot the third department he would eliminate if he became president.
When asked if he agreed with how President Obama handled the uprising in Libya, Cain closed his eyes as if trying to remember the situation and said, “Ok, Libya.”
He then stared at the table for about 15 seconds before appealing to the moderator for help.
“President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of [Moammar] Gadhafi — I just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say, yes, I agree or, no, I didn’t agree.”
“I did not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason — no, no, that’s a different one,” he continued. “I got to go back — let’s see … got all of this stuff twirling around in my head. Specifically, what are you asking me if I agree or disagree with Obama?”
The moderator then posed the question again, as it relates to the Obama doctrine of encouraging the contribution of other countries on the matter of U.S. foreign policy.
“Here’s what I would have done — I would have done a better job of determining who the opposition is,” he said. “And I’m sure that our intelligence people have some of that information.”
When pushed, Cain said he wouldn’t agree or disagree with the president’s decision to allow the United Nations to take the lead on Libyan uprising because he didn’t have all of the facts.
“I’m a much more deliberate decision maker,” he said. “Some people want to say that as President you’re supposed to know everything. No, you don’t — I believe in having all of the information, as much of it as I possibly can, rather than making a decision or making a statement about whether I agree or disagree, when I wasn’t privy to the entire situation. … I’m not trying to hedge on the questions, that’s just my nature as a businessman.”
