As former Godfathers Pizza CEO advances in polling in his bid to win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination – that early enthusiasm isn’t winning Charles Krauthammer over.
On Wednesday’s broadcast of “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, Krauthammer was asked by host Bret Baier about Cain, which he expressed he wasn’t completely impressed. However, he acknowledged former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s progress as polling influenced by name recognition.
“I went to Damascus but I wasn’t struck down on the road to it,” Krauthammer said. “But I am impressed in the number he got in the Fox poll. I agree with Steve [Hayes]. Giuliani, the number that Giuliani got, the fact he came in second and considering how badly he did in 2008 — it tells you the poll is about the name recognition for almost everybody.
And with Giuliani’s strong showing, the fact that Cain is faring well in the polling is an impressive feat he said.
(Cain doubles down, would require ‘loyalty proof’ from Muslims to serve in his administration)
“And since you expect that Cain would be at zero or one or two percent because he is unknown – the fact he has 7 percent indicates he has a strong support of constituents. He is still small but intense. So it is a tribute to him he is getting 7 percent on a poll that is essentially about how well known you are.”
However for Krauthammer, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney seems to be the best, especially if the economy worsens.
“The other part about this is Romney doing well,” Krauthammer said. “I think what has happened here is he is the beneficiary of change in the nature of the race. The race up until now I think had been, it looked as if it might be something of a rerun of the midterm – it would be ideological. But now it’s a race about stewardship. The bad economic numbers indicated that we will not have a healthy economy in ’12, in which case the Republicans have to run on ideology, ObamaCare, all of these other issues – big government, hyper-liberalism. If you are not going to run that way you would run on stewardship. The fact is that he hasn’t succeeded in strength of the economy. And in that case, Romney made it the guy you go to – solid, stable, reliable, experience, the governor in business, etc. He stood still as the landscape has change and stands taller.”