MEET JOE THE PLUMBER'S CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT

According to Talking Points Memo, Mr. Wurzelbacher's candidate appears to be Herman Cain:

One potential candidate [Joe the Plumber] likes, his favorite for the presidential race, is a "dark horse" who, hasn't announced any intentions to run yet: Herman Cain, a talk radio host in Georgia and former CEO of Godfather's Pizza.

Cain is an extremely "smart man who I think would do a great job," Wurzelbacher said.

That would be the guy on the left:



Even by the Tea Partiers' standards, hosting an event entitled "One Year To Judgment Day" seems rather extreme.

But not too extreme for Ralph Reed apparently, who was a featured speaker at the event, along with conservative wunderkind Jonathan Krohn and right-wing radio host Herman Cain....

Back in 2006, Cain worked on some interesting radio ads (emphasis added):

A little-known Republican group that claims to have swayed the 2004 presidential election with provocative radio advertising aimed at black and Hispanic audiences is spending nearly $1 million this year to boost the GOP's chances of holding on to a majority in Congress.

... the most inflammatory spots pertain to abortion.

... [One] ad features a dialogue between two men.

"If you make a little mistake with one of your 'hos,' you'll want to dispose of that problem tout suite, no questions asked," one of the men says.

"That's too cold. I don't snuff my own seed," the other replies.

"Maybe you do have a reason to vote Republican," the first man says.

... The key financial backer of America's Pac is J. Patrick Rooney, 78, of Indianapolis....

Mr. Rooney declined to be interviewed yesterday. The group referred calls from The New York Sun to a conservative, African-American talk show host who voiced some of the ads, Herman Cain....

Joe the Plumber isn't alone in supporting this guy -- Fox's Neil Cavuto has urged Cain to run, and Robert Stacy McCain has been described as "a Herman Cain fanatic." Cain hangs out with Sean Hannity and guest-hosts for Neal Boortz ("Give him a call and tell him what's on your mind. What the heck, ask him to run for President!" says a post on Boortz's blog). Cain's speech at the recent Southern Republican Leadership Conference set off starbursts all over Wingnuttia. At the end of that speech he hinted that he might run for president. A lot of people seem to like the idea.

What does he stand for? in 2006, when he was running for the GOP Senate nomination in Georgia, a RedState blogger wrote:

Cain is ... in favor of going to a national sales tax (to replace the income tax). supports the FMA [Federal Marriage Amendment] and school vouchers, is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, supports tort reform, strongly supports President Bush's leadership in the War on Terror, and is in favor of partially privatizing social security (for younger workers).

In other words, apart from skin color, he's just another wingnut clone. Yes, he's now pro-tea party; yes, he's an opponent of the health care bill (or, as he calls it, "health-care deform legislation," in a World Net Daily essay in which he also refers to "Cap & Trade & Tax & Kill" and "the Unfairness Doctrine"); and yes, he's a climate-change denialist. Who isn't? If anything distinguishes him, it's his idiotic nickname: "the Hermanator." "Mittster" and "Caribou Barbie" really don't come close.