The Herman Cain campaign has a Muslim problem: Try as it might to promote the candidate’s business acumen and fiscal credentials, Cain’s interest in Islam keeps getting in the way.
That may be changing.
Cain dropped by Capitol Hill today to speak at a tea party rally on behalf of the Republican Cut, Cap and Balance plan. As Politico reports, he was denied his scheduled speaking slot on stage. But the generally affable Cain wandered around for half an hour or so, taking questions from reporters on all manner of topics — except his upcoming meeting with Muslim leaders.
This is a bit of a departure for Cain, who has spent a good deal of time on the trail in the past few months responding to reporters’ questions with warnings about the dangers of sharia law and stating and restating his position on Muslims in his cabinet.
But today on the Hill, Cain clammed up when asked about his upcoming session with Muslim leaders, refusing to take several questions on the topic from TPM and others before scooting off in an SUV with an aide.
He responded to questions on plenty of other topics, including the debt ceiling (he said it shouldn’t be raised) and whether or not House Speaker John Boehner should keep his job (Cain said he should.) But, this time, Islam seemed to be off the agenda.
Campaign spokesperson Ellen Carmichael insisted there’s been no change in strategy when it comes to talking about Muslims.
“There’s no concerted effort on our part for him to stop talking about anything he chooses,” she told TPM Wednesday.
Carmichael said that Cain won’t be discussing the meeting with Muslim leaders until after it’s over. She said the meeting is scheduled to happen “within the week,” but refused to divulge more details, explaining that reporters would show up at the meeting if they knew where and when it was.
The campaign would rather control the message about the meeting, which comes just before the run-up to the Ames, IA Straw Poll — the first serious test of a presidential candidate’s strength — begins in earnest.
“We’re not going to put out any information about the meeting to the media in advance of the meeting,” Carmichael said. “Following the meeting we will put out the names and what was discussed as well as additional information about it.”
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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