Hoekstra: ‘Best guy’ not in govenor’s office

Herman Cain, the keynote speaker at the sparsely attended gathering at the American Polish Century Club, said that Republicans should not become preoccupied if their first choice for president does not grab the party’s nomination. Relying upon panache and humor, Cain joked that his favorite candidate – “moi” – is no longer in the race.

Hoekstra, speaking in a more staid cadence – shall we say, a more conservative tone – tried to ride on Cain’s coattails, and may have slipped along the way. His words might cause some Republicans, especially lawmakers in the state Capitol, to flinch. 

The Holland Republican recalled that he and Gov. Rick Snyder avoided negative attacks on each other in the 2010 gubernatorial election, though his loss to Snyder was not a pleasant experience.

“Like Herman said, he feels like the best Republican candidate is no longer in the race. I don’t believe the best guy is in the governor’s office.” 

Cain, perhaps inadvertently, contradicted himself — or demonstrated a blatant partisan bias — when describing the national electorate of 2012. The former presidential contender said that President Obama’s approval ratings hover around 45 percent (most recently, they’re in the 50 percent range).

Those who approve of Obama’s performance in office must be “totally clueless,” said the former pizza magnate.

A few minutes later, he praised the tea party activists and conservative groups that have studied the issues facing the nation.

“Contrary to what Washington thinks,” he said, “the American people are not stupid.”

Cain deserves kudos for imploring the crowd to think beyond rigid conservative ideology. He said that independents and moderates want to know what will work, not what the GOP agenda entails. Restless college students, he added, don’t want to hear that you’re claim to fame is that you’re “a lifelong Republican.”

“The independents and moderates respond to solutions. They want solutions, they don’t want to hear about Republican ideology. That doesn’t mean anything,” said the Georgia Republican. How you’re going to ‘fix stuff’ is what makes people wake up.”

Hoekstra’s repeated efforts to position himself further to the right came to the forefront in a discussion about the war in Afghanistan. The Senate candidate pointed to the burning of Korans by German soldiers stationed at a U.S. military installation, apparently as a mistake while destroying a pile of radical Islamist propaganda.

“The president apologizes for the burning of the Koran. I wonder when the Taliban is going to apologize for the killing of American troops,” he said. “There are, there are just things that are backwards here.” 

Cain was sharply criticized during his time in the presidential campaign for playfully suggesting that an electrified fence on the Mexican border would certainly keep illegal aliens out of the U.S.

At the Troy event, he said he advocates putting troops on the Southern border with “real guns and real bullets.” He also called again for a “real fence” to keep the illegals out. That would include, Cain reiterated, a moat on the U.S. side of the fence crawling with alligators.

Referring to his critics, he added: “What do you mean insensitive, they’re going to be grown alligators. I’m not going to put little babies in there.”

That remark generated loud laughter, the biggest response of the night, from the small crowd.