Herman Cain Campaign Came Up With List Of Foreign Leaders To Commit To Memory

Herman Cain's campaign came up with a list of foreign leaders for him to memorize after he said didn't need to know the president of Uzbekistan by name, according to Foreign Policy.

In early October, the Christian Broadcasting Network asked the former Godfather's Pizza CEO if he was ready for "gotcha" questions. "When they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan I'm going to say you know, I don't know. Do you know?" he said.

Then-candidate George W. Bush could not name the leaders of Chechnya, India and Pakistan in a November 1999 interview with Andy Hiller, a Boston television political reporter.

After the CBN appearance in October, Cain's campaign made a list of 20 foreign leaders to commit to memory, reports Foreign Policy. Cain also hired former U.S. Navy commander J.D. Gordon to serve as vice president for communications and senior adviser for foreign policy and national security after his campaign saw him in one of his frequent appearances on "Fox News."

Cain said he "misspoke" after he said he would negotiate the release of one American soldier for freeing all prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in a recent interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Cain is surging in Republican primary polls, challenging former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's position as frontrunner.

Comments

[ljmck]

04:05 PM on 11/16/2011

Why do Republicans support no-nothing-say-anything candidates?

Because the average GOPer likes his leaders to be like him and because corporate America finds it easier to manipulate such people.

[ljmck]

03:53 PM on 11/16/2011

Gotcha questions? I think not.

Anyone who reads a newspaper regularly could easily answer the questions that he flubbed. How can you be effective if you don't know the basics? Do you really expect aides to brief you about the entire background of issues every time you have to make a decision? Nuclear bombs could be flying by that time. Maybe schmoozing works in the lobbying business, but it's not a credential for leading the largest democracy in the world.

Let's not take the lowest common denominator of presidents (2001-2009) as our guide. Let's not accept that it's okay to have a president in office who is already suffering from Alzheimer's and having aides and family cover that up.

Let's demand that our presidents be knowledgeable, informed, deeply curious, and fully able mentally -- people who seek information, rather than fleeing from it. We don't want unelected Rasputins in the White House who start by covering for the president and end up making important decisions.

Please. No more dunces in the White House.

[RattInnaCage]

02:50 PM on 11/16/2011

Hopefully, President Obama is on the list.

[l78lancer]

12:36 AM on 10/29/2011

John McCain said that that a president needed to come to the job ready to hit the ground running. He also said that this country could not afford a president who needed on the job training. If it wasn't okay then, it's not okay now.

By suggesting that there are basic things that he doesn't need to know he indicates that he thinks it's okay to come to the job unprepared and he'll pick up knowledge as he needs it. That is just another contradiction within the GOP philosophy. His desire to move the goal posts highlights the fact that he is unprepared to be president.

[Ross NW]

08:16 PM on 10/27/2011

Republicans--fond of means testing to ensure public servants, like teachers, keep up with standards--rarely apply any sort of standard to their own knowledge and credentials.

[l78lancer]

12:03 AM on 10/29/2011

What's fair for the goose is always used by the gander to exploit the gooses weakneses. The same folks who demand such testing avoid it themselves because they can't stand the same scrutiny they subject others to.

[tangelan]

03:54 PM on 10/27/2011

This is payback for laughing at Sarah Palin. I hope Herb's wife is decent.

[l78lancer]

12:04 AM on 10/29/2011

At the very least she is smart for staying out of the limelight.

[yoursotruly]

02:13 PM on 10/27/2011

The idea that a potential United States President should be expected to know the names of foreign leaders or the locations of countries BEFORE getting elected is preposterous. Do we ask airline pilots to know how to fly a plane BEFORE they get the job? Do we ask doctors to learn the parts of the human body BEFORE they pick up the scalpel and start operating? Sure we do, but they have the safety of a patient or a whole planeload of passengers who depend on them knowing something but the President of the United States can pick these things up as he goes along, it's not rocket science or brain surgery to run the largest, most powerful nation in the world. Should Presidential candidates be expected to know as much as a public school teacher about geography or expect to be questioned about their level of competence for the job they are applying for like a pilot or be regularly drug tested like someone applying for the ominous responsibility of collecting a welfare check? That would be absurd and unfair.

[l78lancer]

12:27 AM on 10/29/2011

Before Obama was elected McCain said that the country could not afford to have a president who needed on the job training. He said that the president needed to enter the job ready to hit the ground running. Your comment is a complete contradiction of that position. You can't have it both ways.

Kids in elementary school learn the names of heads of state. That is not the same as asking them to understand foreign policy or negotiate deals. Pilots take aptitude tests, doctors take MCATs, so there are some basic things of which a presidential cantidate should be aware and be able to demonstrate. Bush's lack of knowledge blindsided him because he wasn't aware of that leader and wasn't aware of the issues in that region at the time - major faux paux. Cain actually opened the door to scrutiny because of his flipness and arrogance. Should a presidential cantidate be questions about their competence? Absolutely. The president pilots this country just like a pilot flys a plane. The last job interview you went on you had to answer questions and those answers determined if you were competent and eligible for the job - unless nepotism or some other unfair selection process was involved. Regardless of their resume, or transcripts or what other people may say, what other indication do you have that they are equipped for the job unless they answer questions?

Why would you bring welfare and drug testing into the discussion? That the point of that?

[yoursotruly]

05:56 PM on 11/05/2011

PS Fanned and faved ya!

[4RealMan]

04:35 PM on 11/16/2011

correct me if I'm wrong but I think yoursotruly comment was a joke.

[nb7264]

08:42 AM on 10/27/2011

Any question that a Repub can't answer (very long list) is a "gotcha" question.

[tlgpa]

08:40 AM on 10/27/2011

This is called on the job training. More evidence that this was originally a publicity stunt to sell his book. He didn't enter the race as a serious candidate.

[DickClark]

08:31 AM on 10/27/2011

......Cain referring to himself as "Moses".....?........

..........Wrong bibilical reference.......

.........Try Exodus.........and a brother reference instead.........

[aznurse]

08:19 AM on 10/27/2011

Yowzer! I just saw his "The man with the yellow flower" campaign commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSlC7BxmSqY

[yoursotruly]

03:02 PM on 10/27/2011

Ya got me:) First, I thought it was real, then I spent 10 minutes trying to verify it, then I realized that it didn't matter, now I wish I could have my 10 minutes back. Come to think of it, I want back every minute I have spent seeing or listening to this insult to American democracy with considerable interest or at least a free pizza. So, I'll bite, where did this REALLY come from?

[aznurse]

04:23 PM on 10/27/2011

I saw it mentioned here and I you tubed it. I thought it was real too. After the cigarette one anything is possible.

[JeffsQuestForTruth]

04:50 AM on 10/27/2011

Don't make fun of Herman yet... Cheer him on! If he gets the nomination the GOP has no chance to win the Presidency and we might avoid the apocalypse.

9/9/9 and memorization for the win! Attaboy Herman! If you need more help on weird smoking ads you need only ask!

[leea928]

08:25 AM on 10/27/2011

I so agree with you. I don't have an opnion on his business savy, it doesn't effect me. BUT what does effect me is his lack of knowledge of ANYTHING that would make him a potential President. I don't think he ever was serious about running for President. His boses put him in and with their financial support he came to light just at the right time. He may be the best of what the Tea Party has to offer, which is great for those logical voters who vote on the issues. What concerns me right now is if the GOP is ready to give up the white house in 2012, does that mean they will concentrate on the Congress and Senate? PLEASE voters, keep your eye on EVERYONE that is running in 2012. We can not let the grid lock continue.

[tlgpa]

08:39 AM on 10/27/2011

I agree, it would be a fun ride. But you gotta ask yourself.. what IF he somehow won?
Don't say he has no chance. Stranger things have happened.

[leea928]

08:58 AM on 10/27/2011

I soooooooo hate to agree with you, but it only takes a few minutes of reading comments on this news site to know that you have a good point.
IF he could pull out a win, millions will cheer until he starts doing what he has said he would, then they will blame the Democrates for it somehow. Saying "I told you so" wont help us a bit.

[joeyfoto]

04:07 AM on 10/27/2011

Remedial rote memorization of the names of world leaders is not the same thing as understing the complex dynamics of international relations... This is not about a list; it about a three dimensional web of global human connections. Sorry, Herman, but home schooling is not sufficient to prepare for the biggest job on earth. But, keep up the book tour, I'm sure this charade is good for business.

[Tom Iarossi]

08:11 AM on 10/27/2011

Well said. And his mocking pronunciation of the country's name reveals him to be a childish, small minded person. How would he like it if someone form "Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan" dropped and n-bomb on him? To me, that whole part of his answer said it all.

[SBinF]

09:05 AM on 10/27/2011

I may be reaching here, but from his previous statements on race, Cain probably finds nothing wrong with people using that word. After all, the rappers do it, so white folks should as well.

[David LS]

03:58 AM on 10/27/2011

He isn't going to sell his type of pizza to any foreign leaders.

[norepublicanleftbehind]

03:51 AM on 10/27/2011

This is the rep great hope? OMG

[Mike Costanza]

11:15 AM on 10/27/2011

I agree. Unfortunately, Republicans fear anyone who betrays knowledge or real wisdom. I am reminded of a sci-fi story readlong ago in which the members of a "flash-mob" type movement had to listen to radios 24/7 in order to have anything in their heads. Fast forward to the Fox Republican Network's control of the right-wing's intellectual direction.