Herman Cain wanted to be the very best, like no one ever was, but his quest to catch 'em all ended on Saturday.
The businessman and GOP presidential candidate stepped aside from the race on Saturday, bowing to falling polling numbers and growing sex scandal-related controversy. It was a sad moment for the conservatives who backed him, but a happy one for many video game and anime fans, as during his announcement, he finally admitted that he had been quoting Pokémon during various other speeches.
"I believe these words came from the Pokémon movie. I’m not sure who the original author is, so don’t go write an article about the poet, but it says a lot about where I am– where I am with my wife and my family, and where we are as a nation," Cain said. "Life can be a challenge. Life can seem impossible. It's never easy when there's so much on the line. But you and I can make a difference. There's a mission just for you and me."
The movie, to be exact, was "Pokémon 2000," and the song "The Power of One" sung by Donna Summer and written by Mervyn Warren and Mark Chait, not a "poet" as he had previously stated. But there are plenty of other Pokémon show and film lines he could have used, and as a service to both the Nintendo-based franchise and his speech writers for potential future campaigns, we've come up with a list of other great phrases he should keep in his political Pokédex.
"There's no sense in going out of your way just to get somebody to like you." - Ash Ketchum
"We have a proud tradition of failure to uphold" - James, Team Rocket
"When you have lemons, you make lemonade; and when you have rice, you make rice balls" - Brock
"I guess you'll learn that playing with the big boys can be a shocking experience." - Lt. Surge
"Listen to me kid, when you get involved with the opposite sex you're only asking for trouble" - Jesse, Team Rocket
"As a child, I played a lot of video games and was known as Flying Fingers Sammy." - Professor Oak
"Smell Ya Later!" - Gary
"Pika Pika!" - Pikachu
"Charmander Char!" - Charmander
"Jigglypuff, Jigglyyyypuff. Jigglypuff, Jigglyyyy. Jigglypuff, Jigglyyypuff. Jigglypuff Jiggly. JIgglypuff, Jigglypuff, Jigglypuff, Jiggly. Jiggly Jigglypuff Jigglypuff, Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff, Jigglyyypuff. Jigglypuff, Jiggly. Jigglypuff, Jigglyyypuff. Jigglypuff Jiggly." - Jigglypuff
"The human sacrificed himself, to save the Pokémon. I pitted them against each other, but not until they set aside their differences did I see the true power they all share deep inside. I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." - Mewtwo
Until then, Herman Cain, blasting off again!
UPDATE: Cain also admitted that he had gotten the song from Pokémon in a recent interview with GQ, saying that he first heard it on the Olympics on NBC, and then was told it came from Pokémon.
"And so I fell in love with this song, fell in love with how she sang the song, and fell in love with the words," he said. "Committed it to memory. Now, why did I commit it to memory? Because one of the things that I did before I ran for president is I was a professional speaker. Not a motivational speaker—an inspirational speaker. Motivation comes from within. You have to be inspired. That's what I do. I inspire people, I inspire the public, I inspire my staff. I inspired the organizations I took over to want to succeed. I love the song."
Thus, there is proof that, while he seemed to not be entirely convinced that it came from Summer's Pokémon song in his speech on Saturday, Cain was indeed well aware of the quote's original source.