“This many white people can’t pretend they like me,” says GOP front runner Herman Cain. During the last 3 years we have been privy to the great arguments about political reality. Can the president push X policy in this climate, or not? Political reality also stretches well past policy and into the realm of racial perception. Cain, in my opinion, continues to be a filter by which the GOP absolves themselves from charges of racism. The aforementioned quote ignores political reality. The notion that nothing else could be behind Cain’s meteoric rise is at best laughable. Cain seems to live in a middle ground of race relations that hasn’t really been handled well in the mainstream. A black conservative who both demonizes and utilizes the black experience is an enigma to those in the media. Telegraphing his future moves, the GOP candidate stated early on that Barack Obama had not been apart of the black American experience. This should have given those in the media and regular folks a clear view of what was to come next. The idea of out blacking Obama was his campaign strategy if he got the nomination. However, Cain is not running for President of the United States of America. Book sales and speaking tours are his game. He is a charlatan, a grifter, and a snake oil salesman of the highest regard; only to be matched by Sarah Palin. Herman Cain is unlike what we have seen before on this level (as far as African Americans). He has a single perspective that all the other candidates lack. He is perceived to have the ability to nullify Obama’s blackness. The GOP has for long pushed the notion that black music/culture is corrupting white suburban youth and that lack of logic has permeated into their political reality. They believe that somehow Obama and his rap music persona (read: blackness) are the reasons why he got elected. The only way to fight fire is with fire. The only way to fight Jay-Z is with MC Hammer, I guess. So remember as you see Cain rising in the polls and statements of “see we ain’t racist, we got our own brotha” that he is a filter. A filter that the GOP has never had. Colin Powell while black never gave them the ability to use race as a weapon and a shield. Cain on the other hand does. This is why all these white folks can’t be wrong.

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