The View: Herman Cain, GOP presidential Hopeful

Herman Cain who has sky-rocketed to the top of the polls for GOP Presidential candidacy was on "The View" today ... He was given a short time around the round table with the ladies (as opposed to the whole show as Obama & Biden both had during their runs).
Here is a transcript:
(HC=Herman Cain
BW=Barbara Walters
JB=Joy Behar
WG=Whoopi Goldberg
EH=Elizabeth hasslebeck
S?=Sherri [I don't know her last name anymore])
BW: the self-made millionaire and business mogul, he was the former CEO of a pizza company, Herman Cain has quickly gone from republican long-shot to neck-in-neck with front runners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. He recently won the FL straw poll and the "National Federation of Women"s straw poll and 70% of those who saw the republican debates say the more the learn about Herman Cain the more they like him. So we would like to learn some more too- welcome you, mr Cain.

HC: than you, I'm delighted to be here, a pleasure

BW: so, you have said that Chris Christie you thought was too liberal, now he's not running so I assume you're pleased with that

HC: I'm pleased with that for his sake because the advice I had given by way of interviews, if his hearts not in it he should not do it. So I have to conclude that he made this decision for the right reasons - because if he had decided to do it because of the media hype it would have been the wrong reasons. I know for a fact

BW: I didn't mention it and I should have because your hearts in it, that you have a book "This is Herman Cain ...

HC: yes...

BW: ... My journey to the White House"
I should have mentioned that - but let's talk about you - you have never held a political office ...

HC: true ...

BW: you admit that you don't know too much about foreign policy ...

HC: not anymore...

BW: well you've been studying yeah - have you been to foreign countries by the way?

HC: I was in Israel in august as an example, I have been to south Africa, I have been to Australia, so I've been to a number of countries

BW: so you've been to a number ...

HC: most recently I was in isreal last august

BW: ok, but in general you have said you are not up to speed in foreign policy - I'm quoting you - and most of your experience has been as the CEO of a pizza company, where I must say you worked very hard and you little by little worked your way up to your great credit - but what makes you qualified to be president of the United States?

HC: well let's not just focus on the pizza company, remember I worked my way up to become the Vice-President of Pillsbury Company, then worked my way up to become Vice-President of the Burger King Corporation, they then appointed me President and CEO of Godfather's which was supposed to go bankrupt but I "didn't get the memo" so we saved the company, then I headed u the National Restaurant Association, I've also served as chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, my first job was as a ballistics analyst, as a mathematician with the department of Navy working on fire control systems, I've served on the Board of Strategic Air Command citizen advisory board, earlier in my career - so I'm a problem solver. That's what I've done for over 40years.

BW: (kind of tough to hear over audience clapping) ... You've never held elected office ... Foreign policy ...

HC: let me respond to that one - when I speak to groups all over the country, as you would imagine, when I get to the part where #1 I don't have national name i.d. like some of the some of the other candidates, #2 I don't have a kagillion dollars like some of the other candidates, and when I say I have never held public office I get a spontaneous applause because they're tired of "politicians as usual" - the American people are ready for someone who is a businessman problem solver first.

S?: I want to go back to this, we had a discussion yesterday that involved Rick Perry and it was a story about his family using a hunting lodge and apparently this had the racial slur of N-head on a rock ...

HC: yeah ...

S?: now you were critical of him over the last few days about this, he has since said that - I want to get this right - his campaign said that the rock was painted over soon after Mr Perry's father was given hunting rights there in 1983, although some people have said it was even there's in the 90's,

HC: right, right ...

S?: but is that apology, is that enough for you? Because you had said it was insensitive

HC: I will say I still stand by my statement that it was insensitive for it to be there up until 1983. And the statement thats been issued by governor Perry's campaign I accept that, I do not believe that that represents how governor Rick Perry feels about black people in America - it was insensitive to leave it there as long as they left it.

EH: interesting. Can I ask about another statement that you made too? You said if you do run against Obama you'd probably get about a 1/3 of the African-American vote but you said the other 2/3, you said to Al Blitzer, are brain-washed into voting for Obama again - you received backlash for that as well- do you still stand by that statement?

HC: I absolutely do, and here's why - I'm glad that you pointed out that, and I said this in my statement, the good news is that a lot of Black Americans are thinking for themselves, now there are some that are so brainwashed that they won't even consider a conservative idea.

EH: what do you do about that?

HC: well, you save the savable, and if heyre not savable because they don't even want to hear the idea about my 999 plan - I tried to give that to some people and they didn't want it because they saw me as a republican, they saw me as a conservative - I call that being brainwashed, not being openminded to another idea

JB: (interrupted HC) well that isn't exactly - the republican party hasn't been "black friendly" over the many centuries of this country ...

HC: I never said that

JB: well I'm saying that ...

EH: .... -gion? (couldn't here her full question)

WG: sorry?

EH: I just think that that's not necessarily true

WG: just to be clear she's talking about the last 205 years

EH: to be fair, unemployment right now within the African-American community right now I believe is over 18%? so right now in terms of business, and you made this point, this actually right now the toughest time for that community eight now in terms of being fair to a certain community, we may not be.

(silence from everyone)

WG: I want to ask this because we were talking about unemployment and stuff, and I'm assuming you are giving this a great deal of thought ...

HC:yes

WG: ... and so I'm gonna ask you just - not you know the specifics, but an idea of how you would get corporations to stop stuffing their pockets and actually look at he people that they fire, the thousands of people that they've fired, and start rehiring and getting manufacturing going because you're a business man I'm asking - just in general and quickly because I see everybody has questions, how would you do it?

HC: he first thing you do is throw out the current tax code which creates too much uncertainty for the business community, and this is why I've proposed my 999 plan. Very quickly, it imposes a 9% business flat tax, a 9% personal income tax, and a 9% national sales tax - it expands he base so everybody has a lower rate and it is not regressive on the poor. Now, when you add certainty by passing this thats what's going to cause the business community to be inspired to put together growth plans now - one of the reasons you've seen so many corporations do so many cut backs in the last 3 years is ...

WG: well it's longer than the last three years ...

HC: ... Longer than the last three is out of necessity. I've served on the board of directors on several corporations and one of the things we've talked about in this economic down-turn, especially when the melt down of 2008 happened, "what do we do to continue to serve our stockholders and try to make a profit" so they had to look at ways to be more productive that's what's happened. But businesses want to grow, I have never sat in on a board meeting where they've said "how can we stay the same, or get smaller?". They want to grow when you provide some certainty to the business environment.

JB (talked right over S?'s spot): I want to ask you your conservative position on gay-marriage and civil unions ...

HC: you gonna change he urstion on me?

JB: yeah, I'm changing the topic a little bit because your a social conservative ...

HC: yes

JB:... strictly I think

HC: yes

JB: you would like to roll back, bring back "Don't ask, Don't Tell". I think hat you believe that being gay is a choice ...

HC: yes

BW: and he also believes that no abortions even if the woman is raped or a incest victim

HC: thats my feeling, that's just my position

BW: you are a very conservative candidate

HC: yes

JB: but it's been basically, I think that to think hat being gay is a choice - I don't know how to respond to that, I mean I don't think that anybody in this world wants to be gay considering all the vilification that is brought upon someone who is gay - why would you chose that?

HC: well, you so me the science that says that it's not, and could be persuaded. Right now it's my opinion, against the opinion of others who feel differently. That's just a difference of opinion ...

EH: would you govern based on that? Because there are politicians now that do separate now actually - Mitt Romney's a great example - he separated his personals beliefs from how he governed. Would you serrated your personal beliefs from how you would govern?

(BW tried to get in some words here too)

HC: ok, you want me to answer that one question at a time or two questions at a time?

BW: yes or no ...(ladies all talk at once)

S?: ... You're an associate minister, I know this, you're an associate Astor at your church

HC: yes

S?: ... Are you gonna separate that - because you have to run with caution with a lot of people

HC: yes

S?: with different beliefs

HC: I'm gonna make my decisions based upon the constitution of the united states of America - that's what the president has the responsibility to do. Some of my personal feelings are not gonna influence decisions I need to make on behalf of the American people, that is what a president is supposed to do.

WG: that's what Obama said too

EH: yes

BW: you certainly are not Obama. I just want to say that one of the major things that you've talk about that people should examine, I'm sorry we didn't have more time is this 999 ...

HC: yes

BW: because it is very controversial to a lot of people - people think it hurts the poor people, but it something that's new and fresh in this campaign and I commend you for that - that's something that examine more.

HC: yeah, take a look at the 999 plan - people can find it at my website
As far as his views on being gay and on DADT ... Those questions will be settled by the Supreme Court and as president he will have to abide by them -- this reminds me of the controversy of JFK being Catholic, where people thought that if he got in that the Pope would suddenly become the invisible hand in the White House ... they even said something about having a special phone that went directly between the White House and the Vatican.

I don't know about not having abortions for those raped or victims of incest - as a younger woman I used to think "who am I to determine that this life shouldn't go on?" BUT they didn't give him the chance, and he didn't take it, to explain where he - as an older man and minister - is coming from with his view. That would be more interesting to me than anything else. I mean I know people who think that it's just a clump of cells like a blood clot until it's born, I know people who believe that it's not a life until it can live by itself unaided outside the womb, and I know people who believe it's a life from the moment of conception. I think it's interesting that the law says that you can have an abortion up until the time of birth (late term abortion) but if you are Ina car accident the driver who caused the accident can be charged with vehicular- homicide if a fetus dies. It's a inconsistency in the law.

I would have loved to have heard about his ideas on health care - if he isn't for requiring health care for all Americans, is he for requiring businesses to offer it for their full-time employees? How about caps for deductibles? Or a requirement for each state to come up with a plan for their residents.

That is one question that really needed to be answered