COMMENTARY | Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is riding high in the polls, but still in search of a coherent foreign policy approach. Cain has brought the focus to himself because of his 9-9-9 tax proposal, but eventually he will have to answer more questions about what kind of foreign policy objectives he would pursue if elected.
The majority of the questions coming from David Gregory on "Meet The Press" centered around the 9-9-9 plan and how it is coming under increasing scrutiny. It's looking more like a way to shift more tax burden away from the wealthy and to working Americans than anything else.
It's going to be interesting to see how the average Republican voter reacts to increasing reports showing just how his plan will shift tax burdens in a regressive way down the economic ladder. His plan is in direct opposition to the concerns being raised by Americans feeling sympathy with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Cain's plan comes down firmly in the camp of the top 1 percent.
While Cain's numbers may be wrong on 9-9-9, at least he is consistent and fairly specific. When it comes to foreign policy, Cain again came off as vague and lacking in understanding.
It's a trend which seems to happen with every emerging Republican candidate when they begin to garner more attention. From Sarah Palin's gaffes with Katie Couric last election cycle on through to Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and now Herman Cain this time, more attention exposes a lack of knowledge.
When responding to Gregory about statements Cain made saying stupid people are ruining America, Cain defines that to mean "people who are uniformed."
It doesn't take much longer in the interview before Cain puts his personal stamp on being uninformed, when Gregory asked Cain whether he considered himself a neoconservative.
"I'm not familiar with the neoconservative movement," Cain said, although he referenced former U.N. ambassador John Bolton as someone whose writings he has "looked at" when forming his views on foreign policy. The neoconservative approach shaped every foreign policy initiative of the Bush Administration. To not even be familiar with the term speaks volumes about Cain's lack of knowledge about what shapes the job he seeks.
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