Is Cain Able?

Yes, Herman Cain probably is able, certainly more able than Obama.  I figure anybody who's CEO'ed around like Cain has, most likely has all the administrative and executive ability necessary to be President, which includes the ability to hire people to advise him who know the stuff he doesn't.  That would apply to thousands of people, the vast majority of whom we've never heard of. But able is only part of the equation. Cain famously said this:

Now, this can be interpreted more than one way.  In context, he made the point that Obama has been ambiguous about this relationship with Israel, leading the Palestinians to press harder than they might have, had the President been clearer. That's actually a valid point.  I'm reminded of Old Bush's diplomatic ambiguity that led Saddam Hussein to think he could invade Kuwait with impunity. Another way to look at it is that Cain was reassuring the Israel Lobby that he'd remain safely under their control as President.  Or, giving him the benefit of the doubt, he was bowing to necessity, knowing full well that the Lobby wouldn't permit anybody who doesn't kowtow to them to get anywhere near the Presidency.

Cain, to my thinking, has two big advantages.  He's the anti-Obama.  This means, to a lot of people, that he can break Obama's near-total grip on the Black vote.  I think they're kidding themselves.  Obama will still get practically all the Black vote, and the guilty White liberal vote, just like he did last time.  Cain might very well get the independent vote, though, and win the Presidency.  His other advantage is that he seems decisive and tough in comparison to most of the other Republican candidates, and, being who and what he is, can dis' Obama and the pundits can't say "racism."  He's commented on that himself.

At this point I find myself willing to vote for any of the Republicans who've popped up so far, just to get Obama out of office, and that includes Cain.  Ron Paul remains my favorite, because he seems to be the only one who wants to fix the financial mess at the source, while all the others want to leave the established Federal Reserve/Wall Street/Goldman Sachs string-pullers safely in place.  My second choice  would be Bachmann, because she's the only one who seems to want to fix immigration, really, and sounds like she has some idea how to do it.  As for the rest, the one I'd hate most to have to vote for is Perry, because he's so transparently phony.  Cain falls somewhere in the middle.

But Cain is certainly interesting.  Here's a personal look at him from John Derbshire.