May 21, 2011, Herman Cain entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination.  He immediately introduced his 9-9-9 tax plan and turned heads.  In a surprise outcome of the Florida Straw poll, Cain pulled ahead of all other GOP candidates with 37% of the vote, more votes than the other two leading candidates combined.   Although he had a strong start, from there things began to go downhill with his viral ‘smoking ad’ video, a sex scandal, a bad slip-up in an interview, and finally an alleged 13 year affair.

   Right from the start, Cain pushed his 9-9-9 plan as the major driving force of his campaign.  The goal of his tax plan (taken from his own campaign website) is to “stimulate the economy and renew America back to its greatness.”  The idea of his plan was to create a 9% business flat tax, a 9% individual tax, and a 9% national sales tax.  There are many criticisms of the plan floating around, and although Cain’s 9-9-9 planned gained much favoritism it was also the beginning of his problems.  When critics told what they thought of the 9-9-9 plan, he would always respond that the critics had not read his plan or had misinterpreted it.  During the Las Vegas Republican Debate he was even quoted saying, "The reason that my plan is being attacked so much is because lobbyists, accountants, politicians, they don't want to throw out the current tax code and put in something that's simple and fair."  However when presented with evidence going against his 9-9-9 plan he was never able to form an actual rebuttal or explanation to defend his tax plan. 

   His first political ad was a video that is not running as a paid TV commercial, and has been similar to other such videos posted on his campaign website.  The video went viral, and fast.  For those who have not seen the video, it is focused on Cain’s campaign manager, Mark Block, talking of uniting America and what Herman Cain’s campaign stands for.  To finish the ad, he takes a long pull on his cigarette and blows the smoke back into the lens of the camera.  It’s no wonder this video went viral so quickly and has landed a spot on several lists of the wackiest political ads ever.  The video garnered plenty of attention, but not much of the positive kind.  Overall it was seen as a joke, and even Herman Cain himself has said the video is “hilarious.”

   The next bump in his campaign was his infamous sex scandal.  It all began October 20 when news got out that two women had received settlements after complaining that Cain had sexually harassed them.  Four days later, one of Cain's spokesmen claims that this was part of a ‘smear ad’ and everything was resolved between both parties.  On October 31 Cain himself speaks against the allegations and claims that he was not guilty of any sexual harassment; he only admits to making ‘an agreement’ and saying that some may view what he did as a step 'over the line'.  Before this was over, it was brought out that four women had reported sexual harassment claims against Cain, but only the two received settlements.

   Things got worse for his actual campaign platform when in a November interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he was asked whether he agreed with how Obama handled the Libya matter or not.  For those unfamiliar with what happened in Libya their dictator for 42 years, Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed in October; several months after Obama decided to try and oust him. First, he responded by saying, "Okay, Libya."  There was then a stretch of silence while he thought on the subject.  He spoke again, only to say he did not agree for a reason before once again stopping to say, "Um, nope that's a different one."  In the end he never answered the question, and the most he got out was saying Obama should have done a better job evaluating the rebels' motives and what would happen when the U.S. got involved, but he never seemed to understand what Obama did. 

   The final hitch for Herman Cain came when Georgia businesswoman Ginger White stepped out on November 28 and claimed she and Cain had been having an affair for 13 years.  Needless to say, Cain denied this allegation.  However, his lawyer Lin Wood does not state things the same way.  The only thing Wood said was that White's allegations were about a consensual relationship between two adults.  Cain's campaign released a statement saying that they are not surprised this woman came forward after previous sexual harassment claims did not force Cain to drop his presidential bid.  It was eventually revealed that Cain did send White money without his wife's knowledge, but he held by his previous denial of the affair.

   It was on December 3 that Herman Cain removed his name from the list of Republican presidential candidates.  In his official speech he said it was the painful cost to his family from false accusations that has caused him to withdraw.  In his own words he is at peace with his family, but feels like because of the media he is no longer able to present solutions to the nation's problems fairly.  His support from Iowa had gone down from 23% to 8%, and his campaign was officially suspended.  It is impossible to know what would have happened with his campaign had it been allowed to continue, but it is very likely it would have continued to be an unusual campaign.  Cain started off promisingly, but from there things did not go his way.  His 9-9-9 plan has been torn apart, he has shown in interviews he does not always know current events, and with all the sex scandals and affair allegations it is unlikely had he continued he would have been able to garner the support needed to be president.  Looking back, we can all say it at least created an interesting campaign for America to watch.