Cain Declares for the Presidency, Says U.S. Has Become a ‘Nation of Crises’

Herman Cain, the former radio talk show host and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, officially joined the crowded field for the Republican presidential nomination this afternoon at a rally in downtown Atlanta.

The United States has “become a nation of crises,” said Cain in declaring his candidacy before a crowd of between 10,000-15,000 people gathered in the city’s Centennial Olympic Park.

“We have a moral crisis. We got an economic crisis. We’ve got an entitlement spending crisis. We’ve got an immigration crisis. We’ve got a foggy foreign affairs crisis,” declared the long-shot presidential hopeful.

Most importantly, he continued, “we’ve got a deficiency of leadership crisis in the White House.”  There’s a big difference, he said, between leadership and what he described as political posturing by President Obama.

Under the current Democratic administration the economy has remained stagnant and the number of people on foods stamps has soared, said Cain, echoing former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who got in some hot water recently when he indelicately described President Obama as “the most successful food stamp president in American history.” 

The Department of Agriculture estimates that 44.2 million people — about 14 percent of the entire U.S. population — are currently receiving food stamps.

Cain’s supporters cheered throughout his twenty-minutes speech, chanting and waving “Yes We Cain” placards.

The 65-year-old Cain, who initially burst onto the national political stage when he jousted with then-President Bill Clinton over health care during a televised town hall meeting seventeen years ago, is perhaps best known for rescuing the struggling Godfather’s Pizza chain, a franchise teetering on the verge of bankruptcy when he took over as CEO.

Cain, who was born in Memphis and raised in Atlanta, is the son of a chauffer. His mother was a domestic worker. Cain’s father frequently worked three jobs to support his family. The younger Cain attended historically black Morehouse College in Atlanta and later earned a master’s degree from Purdue University.

Cain, who has never held political office, has waged only one previous campaign for public office — a failed bid for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2004.