Cain-Ryan in 2012?

This was not entirely unexpected but the numbers are. From Mary Kate Carey in U.S. News & World Report:

Cain Jumps 20 Points Ahead of Romney in Poll

October 7. Today's Zogby poll of likely Republican primary voters is big news: Herman Cain has opened a 20-point lead over Mitt Romney and he now beats President Obama in a head-to-head matchup, 46 to 44 percent...

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First, he's an outsider, not a career politician, who has Main Street business experience. No one else in the race can say that, including the president.

Second, he's got a plan. His "9-9-9 Plan" would establish a flat business tax at 9 percent, individual taxes at 9 percent, and a national sales tax at 9 percent. Economist Stephen Moore wrote a great piece in the Wall Street Journal recently on the flat tax, saying that Cain's 9-9-9 plan "would be rocket fuel for the economy ... Cain has super-sized solutions to an economy with super-sized problems."

I would add that Cain is truly his own man, not beholden to any one or institution in the DC swamp. While he is, as he has admitted, not terribly knowledgeable on foreign affairs, he is bright and hard working; he'll learn. Being his own man might also, for once, give us a president who will remind the Department of State that it works for the president, not the other way around. I've always been astonished how so many of our presidents have allowed themselves to be cowed by the life-long bureaucrats embedded in that department.

Cain's nomination would also remove about the only tactic remaining for the democrats, playing the race card. Resorting, however, to insinuations of Cain being an Uncle Tom or the Republican's house-n***** , or not being "black enough" will backfire, big time.

My proposal to all the Republican movers and shakers who read this blog (there's bound to be someone somewhere who's stumbled across it, once by accident), as well as Mr. Cain, is in the he wins the nomination, he should pick Paul Ryan to be his running mate. His youth would be a nice counter to Cain's age and his deep knowledge of healthcare matters will prove invaluable. The fact Ryan is an observant Catholic doesn't hurt either.