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November 13, 2011

George Weeks: Mich. greets different drummers

By GEORGE WEEKS Syndicated Columnist

In early jockeying of presidential primary campaigns, northern Michigan has on occasion been friendly territory for contenders who were out of the mainstream.

Ross Perot, Jesse Jackson and George Wallace -- losers all in the end -- were past examples. Herman Cain, who marches to a different drummer in the 2012 GOP primary, had a good showing Up North last week.

Cain did well in the Wednesday night GOP debate in Oakland County -- not as well as ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Michigan native, but far better than bumbling Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who at that point also was in the top trio in latest polling.

Following the debate, Cain did a Michigan blitz.

After Thursday rallies that, according to his campaign, drew 300 folks in metro Detroit, 400 in Kalamazoo and up to 500 in Grand Rapids, an impressive 1,000-plus tea party and other supporters gathered at the Streeters nightclub in Traverse City.

Unlike the other events, it was an evening affair convenient for more people than downstate daytime events, but Cain Michigan Strategist John Yob called it "the most electric political event I have ever been at in my life. ... Nothing short of phenomenal."

If I didn't know Yob as a straight shooter, I'd dismiss that as questionable political puffery for local consumption.

It's quite a statement from a political pro and founder of Grand Rapids-based Strategic National who worked the campaign for now-Gov. Rick Snyder and whose current clients include Michigan GOP Senate contender Pete Hoekstra and Senate candidates in Ohio, Florida and North Dakota.

Yob, son of longtime former Michigan Republican National Committeeman Chuck Yob (who is not part of the Cain campaign), said Cain county chairs have signed on in most counties in the northern Lower Peninsula and "some" counties in the Upper Peninsula.

I question Cain's handling of sexual harassment claims against him. The National Journal said Nov 5 his "spectacularly bungled response" to the accusations "threatens to torpedo his recent surge."

Last week, a FactCheck.org report headlined Cain's "pattern of misdirection" and said his "prevarications about how accusations of sexual harassment were settled are only the most recent example of the candidate's penchant for making contradictory statements on major issues."

In Traverse City, Cain said: "The only reason I'm being attacked is because I'm not part of the political class." Friday in New York he dismissed it as "stuff that does not matter."

It matters.

But there's no doubt that Cain did well on Michigan trails last week and did well in subsequent polls.

The sound of a political lie?

Can you tell from the sound of their voices whether politicians are telling the truth?

As part of its pitch that his sexual harassment accusers are wrong, the Cain campaign last week circulated a television report from CBS Atlanta asserting that, based on a software device, Cain "was not lying" when he defended himself Tuesday against sexual harassment charges.

Private investigator T. J. Ward contends he has a $15,000 software program that can detect lies in people's voices, that works better than a lie detector, and that is in use by 70 law enforcement agencies nationwide.

The station played for Ward Cain's remarks about one woman's accusation and watched as the software analyzed Cain's every word.

Ward said on air: "If he is hiding something this thing would have spiked way down here. He is being truthful, totally truthful. He is a man of integrity, and he talked directly about not knowing any incident he is accused of."

I don't know at this writing how, if at all, the national press covered this unusual pitch by the Cain campaign. But I present it as relevant to an issue that came up on Cain's Michigan swing and as a counterpoint to what I presented above about bungled responses by Cain.

Does Ward's $15,000 device have potential under the dome in Lansing or in homes across the land?

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