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The New Brain Freeze on Libya Video That Will Doom Herman Cain’s Campaign? (VIDEO)

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There’s a new video that’s now surfacing on the cable shows and on various political websites — one that could be the final nail in the coffin of Herman Cain’s sagging campaign. It shows Cain having a Rick Perry like brain freeze when asked about Libya during an interview session with the editorial board at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. These extended interviews campaigns have with editorial boards used to be a bit more provincial, ending in Q&As run as long Sunday features.

But these are the days when video can go viral — and this is going viral very fast. Cain has already come under considerable criticism — even from some conservatives — for him being policy challenged when it comes to foreign affairs issues. Watch him get a softball question and completely bungle it — further undermining his image. Remember that this piece of video is JUST getting circulate and has not reached the late night comedians yet.

Some thoughts:

  • A national political campaign is exhausting and brutal. And he is seeing his numbers go way down. He has to be stresed out. But, then, so are Presidents..
  • Cain’s numbers are down and the story about the sexual harassment allegations is likely not over. If you put it within this context this video is damaging. Cain needs some victories and impressive moments. This is neither.
  • If this video continues to get around — and it is going around very quickly on the Internet and on the cable news programs — then look for Newt Gingrich who is experience a poll surge at Cain’s expenses undergo another surge.
  • Cain could find himself in Rick Perry poll numbers territory soon if unless there are news stories or events that place him in a favorable light. This doesn’t.
  • As I’ve noted before here on TMV, Cain was becoming the Anti-Romney not just because he seemed to be an alterative, but he had become so likable to many that they looked the other way at possible flaws. He was given the benefit of the doubt on his assertions and possible efficacy as a nominee. But the sexual harassment story, a series of controversial quotations, and his blaming allegations on the press, the Perry campaign, the “Democrat machine,” and an “troubled” woman have a)chipped away at his likable image b)cause him to become overexposed in the media. So this video — against this context — is one more bad piece of imagery.

    • TWO OTHER VIEWS:
    —Crooks and Liars’ Karoli:

    I’m not sure how to describe this. I’ve seen it described on Twitter as Herman Cain out-Rick Perrying Rick Perry, but it goes so much deeper than that.

    In this interview, Herman Cain is asked a relatively simple question — at least, to the extent that Republicans have a set of talking points on this — about Libya and the President’s handling of it. We’ve all heard the Luntz talking points about “leading from behind”, letting Al Qaeda take over the rebellion, and so on. I could recite them in answer to a question like this without thinking too much about it. This is why Republicans win media battles. They adopt a single set of talking points and don’t deviate from them.

    Well, except for Herman Cain, who seems to even have trouble pulling up the right set of data points when asked the question. He hesitates, hesitates again, repeats what he thinks are the complaints about how the President handled Libya, and ultimately just tries to craft a non-answer to a simple question.

    —Mediaite’s Colby Hall:

    Cain’s detractors have consistently dismissed the former restaurant industry executive and motivational speaker, claiming that he is not a serious candidate. The homespun and folksy manner in which he speaks on the campaign trail may have resonated with a disenfranchised Tea Party base, but in the context of actual foreign policy, Cain’s critics see banal and oversimplified explanations. The brain freeze exhibited in the clip below evokes that of Rick Perry’s notorious debate gaffe from last week, though this was in a far less public setting.

    If a working knowledge of current foreign policy is a prerequisite to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate, then the following video suggests that Cain is, in fact, not ready for prime time. If his presidential run somehow gets derailed, however, he can still hold on to his dream of becoming the Secretary of Defense.

    —The Huffington Post’s Luke Johnson:

    Cain has made multiple foreign policy gaffes in his campaign. Earlier this month, he warned China was “trying to develop a nuclear capability,” though the country tested a nuclear device in October 1964. When asked whether he was prepared to answer “gotcha” questions in October, he said, “When they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan I’m going to say, you know, ‘I don’t know. Do you know?'” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Afghan President Hamid Karzai later joked about the exchange….

    This stumble is just the latest to roil the GOP primary. At a debate last week, Cain’s rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, was unable to remember the three federal agencies he would cut as president. After naming two, Perry took nearly a minute to regain his bearings before conceding, “I can’t think of the third one. I can’t. Sorry. Oops.” He later clarified that he had been thinking of the Department of Energy.

    UPDATE:

    …The Cain campaign tried to downplay the clip later in the day.

    “The video is being taken out of context,” Cain spokesman JD Gordon said, according to MSNBC. “He was taking questions for about 30 to 40 minutes on four hours of sleep. He didn’t say anything wrong or inaccurate; it just took him a while to recall the specifics of Libya.”

    Gordon added, “It just took him a while to gain his bearings.”

    UPDATE: Cain tonight said that he was pausing to collect his thoughts and its a compliment of sorts that people are analyzing his pauses. .He declared just now on CNN: “It was a pause! That’s all it was! Good grief.”

    You can leave your comments below about whether it was just a simple pause to collect his thoughts or indicated a)a tired candidate b)a candidate who has trouble on foreign policy issues. Cain’s problem is credibility. Will this explanation hold? My view? I suspect he was tired and stressed out.

    Which does not help his problem with the accumulation now of negative media imagery.

    Or the credibility of answers he gives to unwelcome questions.