Cain prospered as big cheese of Godfather
Deroy Murdock, Scripps Howard News Service
Friday, November 4, 2011
Herman Cain has every right to feel uncomfortable.
According to news reports based on anonymous sources, the GOP presidential front-runner is suspected of unspecified acts of sexual harassment while running the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. Cain’s first accuser considered coming forward, but now says she will stay in the shadows. Like a hit-and-run driver, she wounded Cain and now speeds off into the night.
What, if anything, transpired between Cain and his associates remains as unclear as this episode’s ultimate impact on Cain’s upstart, surprisingly successful and -- for many -- refreshing candidacy.
Too bad this media nor’easter overwhelmed two recent stories on a sunnier aspect of Cain’s past: his tenure as CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. If these reports are accurate, Cain is a diligent, cerebral, tough-but-fair executive who turned a failing and flabby organization into a fit, effective enterprise. Imagine if this tested manager could do likewise with America’s paunchy, profligate, pathetic federal government.
First, between 1983 and 1985, Cain revitalized Burger King’s 450-store Philadelphia region. He moved it from a laggard to a leader among the company’s 12 geographic territories.
“My career spans 38 years, and I’ve worked for 26 different managers,” said Frank Taylor, Cain’s former regional controller at Burger King. “Herman was far and away the best I’ve worked for in terms of getting a team together, sharing a vision and accomplishing the goals. And nothing diverted him.”
Pillsbury brass then tapped Cain to resuscitate Godfather’s Pizza. They gave him one year. Godfather’s “had one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel,” Cain has said. According to Neal St. Anthony’s article in the Oct. 30 Minneapolis Star Tribune, hardly a right-wing rag, Godfather’s was “waylaid by a tired menu, demoralized employees and lousy results.”
“I’m Herman Cain and this ain’t no April Fool’s joke,” he told Godfather’s employees upon arrival on April 1, 1986. “We are not dead. Our objective is to prove to Pillsbury and everybody else that we will survive.”
Cain got very busy, indeed. He worked long hours, gave frequent pep talks, canvassed employees individually for their ideas and even cooked pizzas himself -- both in Godfather’s test kitchen and among its roughly 600 retail locations.
Cain energized his headquarters staff with after-work sing-alongs and expected top supervisors to communicate on a first-name basis with all subordinates. Cain tested them on this skill. He also pressed $50 bills into the palms of employees whose customer service or pizza-making prowess impressed him as he visited Godfather’s outlets.
“Herman was very quantitative and analytical,” former Pillsbury executive George Mileusnic recalled in the Star Tribune, “but he demanded that everybody be engaged, and every employee must be appreciated and respected.”
“He’s very, very inspiring,” Godfather’s marketing director Charles Henderson told Brady Dennis in the Oct. 24 Washington Post. “The guy can convince you to run through a wall.”
By 1987, Godfather’s was on a roll. It generated an operating profit, and gained market share against Domino’s and Pizza Hut. According to the Post, Cain closed failing stores and laid off their workers. However, average sales and profit margins grew at surviving restaurants. One year later, Cain arranged for his team to buy the chain from Pillsbury for an undisclosed sum. Once left for dead, Godfather’s thrives even today.
Rather than discuss any of this, however, the campaign press corps will hound Cain about what, if anything, he may have said or done to one or more people whose names and faces remain modern mysteries.
The news media’s Rottweiler-like focus on Cain and these harassment allegations contrasts perfectly with the feline laziness it displayed when the very non-anonymous Juanita Broaddrick credibly accused then-President Bill Clinton not of harassment but of rape while governor of Arkansas. Her plausible charges were trivialized and forgotten.
Poor Herman Cain. If he were a Democrat, his biggest headache today would be how to survive the loud snores of the liberal press.
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
Will the idiot that wrote this explain to me how 9-9-9 will not raise my taxes?
November 4, 2011 at 7:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bharz (anonymous) says...
Is this an editorial, a letter to the editor or a news story?
November 4, 2011 at 7:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
marko (anonymous) says...
someday we must figure out that it may take different skills/strengths to be the Commander in Cheif than it takes to run a sucessful business
November 4, 2011 at 8:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mike_nelson82 (anonymous) says...
Should we not hold Republicans to the same standards as Democrats? What about Anthony Weiner, who only sent pictures of himself over a phone. Was he not asked to leave his position? If anything, this shows progress because Republicans don’t want the same smear on their candidate like the Democrats got with Bill Clinton in office. The article’s central idea is that if you’re successful, any wrongdoing should be overlooked: “Rather than discuss any of this, however, the campaign press corps will hound Cain about what, if anything, he may have said or done to one or more people whose names and faces remain modern mysteries.” The reason these women are unable to come out and speak about the misconduct is because they were properly awarded cash for their silence. You act as if these women are something to be found on the television show Unsolved Mysteries; I wouldn’t put these women in the same category as Sasquatch and little green men. The only mystery here is how you can condemn the way Bill Clinton got a free pass before he became president, to how Herman Cain should now get a free pass. It is no mystery that most of those in power are greedy sexually charged individuals, but we can at least hope that these figures will give off the pretense of being family valued. Herman Cain is no different than most politicians, and that is what is so illuminating about these allegations, because some people had hoped for a candidate with a clear vision for our country, instead of a candidate whose only clear vision is on his female coworkers.
November 4, 2011 at 9:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
excellent post mike_nelson.
Another one bites the dust as the GOP sideshow continues. Sometimes it's fun to watch and sometimes it gets downright distasteful. Watching that fool Cain squirm right on live TV seemed a combination of both. It amazes me how these politicians can never tell the truth from the very beginning. "Just deny it" seems to be the rallying cry.
After all that has happened this week, this article amazes me with its list of incredible reasons for supporting a man who lies so easily, and then has the temerity to tell the press to stop asking questions. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears on that one. What a fool.
This is heaven for the 4th Estate.
November 5, 2011 at 6:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
netloafer (anonymous) says...
I don't know what the central point of the piece was. It seemed to me to be a bit incorherent and rambling.
I don't believe the Cain campaign ever had long legs. I might be wrong about that. As to the allegations, they may or may not have legs.
My wife had an employee once who was accused of sexual harrasment. By the time the investigation and hearings were done the charge was found baseless. The accused was a foreign national and the matter turned out to be a cultural misunderstanding. One of the outputs was that the sexual harrasment charge stayed on his permanent record.
Herman Cain could be lying. He could be telling the truth. I don't know. If he's guilty then he is a worse candidate than he was before the charges were aired. If he's not, he's still a bad candidate.
One of the interesting things about politics is that one could be innocent in a court of law, but guilty as sin in the court of public opinion. That's all that matters.
If I were a Democrat I'd be hoping that Herman Cain wins the Republican nomination. It would change the tenor of the campaign entirely. There would be no need to talk about the economy, taxes, bailouts, immigration, forgeign policy, or the other important things.
At any rate, Herman is either innocent or guilty. We can't have it both ways. And, if he's not guilty of the current charge, he is more than likely guilty of something.
I wonder if TCM is doing a re-run of "The Ox Bow Incident" tonight. I might enjoy watching it.
November 5, 2011 at 7:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
netloafer (anonymous) says...
In a statement through her attorney, the accuser said that there were multiple incidents and that Mssr. Cain knew what they were.
So, how am I to decide? Her lawyer says that "where there's smoke there's usually fire."
I guess that seals it for me. I'm in. I say let's trudge out to the Flint Hills and find a good hanging tree.
November 5, 2011 at 9:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
What I am about to say is not intended to insult, degrade, defame or anger anyone. But just an observation on my part .
I have been watching the GOP for a good while now and the meriad of candidates they have been throwing into the " LIons Den " and it would seem, to me that is, that Herman Cain is the latest of many futile attempts to come up with someone whom they and their allies " The Tea Party " has come up with to try and defeat the " African American President ", whom, in my opinion the GOP and the Tea Party do not like, because of the simple fact, the current POTUS just happens to be a man who is black. So the GOP and the Tea Partys " latest " martyr " also happens to be an African American . Is/was this a move by the GOP and the Tea Party to try and garner the African American vote " ? I certainly think so .
Whats the next thing for the GOP/Tea Party to try and unseat the current president ? Hold up a Hispanic American, Korean American, Japanese American, Israeli American, Arab American, Plutonian American, Martian American, Lunar American to try and gain the Presidency of the U.S. ?
The GOP/Tea Party is desperate and grasping at " desperate " straws, regardless of the " Straws " background, integrity, honesty, respect, etc., just to try and regain " Power over The People " !
JMO
November 5, 2011 at 12:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
I can see why a name was not attached to this garbage.
November 5, 2011 at 5:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bluebonnet (anonymous) says...
Bharz, this was on the editorial page of the printed paper. It's by Deroy Murdock, an African-American conservative columnist with Scripps-Howard news service.
November 7, 2011 at 4:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
After hearing the Sharon Bialek press conference yesterday, I can only say let the circus begin because now she will be taken apart at the seams. Man oh man, listening to this stuff makes me sick. There seems to be so much of it.
If she is coming forward for the right reasons, then I support her. As a woman, especially, I support her because the problem of sexual harassment and exploitation is so common, especially in the workplace.
I found it interesting that an attorney for one of the other women who remains anonymous has said that his client described similar experiences with Cain.
Of course he denies it and wants to set the record straight tomorrow. Okay Herman, let's hear it. It's not like we haven't heard it before, from GOP and Dems alike. Party politics have nothing to do with this kind of disgusting behavior.
The fact that he was on late night TV making jokes about this makes him look like a damn fool indeed.
November 8, 2011 at 7:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tourguide (anonymous) says...
I smell a Book deal or Movie offer in the works. These woman never said a thing until CAIN ran for office. He will not ( if elected) be the first to have a problem keeping it IN HIS PANTS.
November 8, 2011 at 11:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
some might say
"HERMAN WAS A HANDS ON KIND OF LEADER".
;>)
November 8, 2011 at 11:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Just as I expected, he denied everything and even disparaged the women who made accusations. The lowest form of defense is to attack the accuser. Why am I not surprised.
What woman or man in their right minds would make these kinds of accusations and bring living hell into their lives were it not true?
Why did these women come forward now? I'm glad these good women have come forward because this country does not need a lying, sex crazed damn fool in office. To Hell with Cain.
November 9, 2011 at 4:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tourguide (anonymous) says...
you are right we don't need another Clinton, JFK,or TED or any of the others of their type.
November 9, 2011 at 8:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
And Rush Limbaugh making inferences by using Ms Bialek's name should be strung up by his cohones. Juvenile Ass!
November 10, 2011 at 7:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
tourguide, I'm not being partisan here as you just did, but I say that we need men or women who are beyond this kind of disgusting behavior. All men and women. What the hell, can't men keep their damn hands to themselves? What is it in their lives that is so damn missing? Men need to get over this overwhelming desire for oral sex. Idiots.
November 10, 2011 at 7:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tourguide (anonymous) says...
Create, I just grabbed the first few names that came to mind. I could have gone back to Washington, Jefferson, ect. Just tired of hearing about the perverts in office. From politicians , priest, judges, or University Football coaches. How can we teach our children to keep their hands to themselves, when the headlines are full of Sick'O leaders? I do not care what political party they represent , Perv. is a Perv.
November 10, 2011 at 8 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Thank you, tourguide. I understand and apologize for being bitchy toward you. You are absolutely right.
This news this morning for firing Paterno and the president of the university is Penn State covering their asses. Yes, he should have reported it to the police years ago when it was reported to him, but what about the perpetrator himself? His name is hardly mentioned when he should be dragged through the muck too.
I'm sick and tired of sports figures and politicians and priests and judges getting a pass for all this sick shi$.
I'm glad for the headlines, but what will it teach others? To just be cool for awhile until this all blows over?
I agree, a perv is a perv, and no amount of shaming or short jail terms are going to cure the bastards. They need to be punished more harshly than they currently are. Look at the damn Catholic church who for years just moved the bastards around from one parrish to another in their giant denial schemes.
Now we hear Cain again claiming his character and integrity are so valuable and still calling the accusations "unfounded."
Look at Michael Jackson, a sexual predator drug addict who even in death is ruining lives.
tourguide, you're right, I forgot about Jefferson and his slave lover.
We can teach our children to have integrity. If they take a cookie, or hit a sibling, or kick the dog, or pull the cat's tail, then admit it and take the punishment. We can all begin this by refusing to overlook things like we have all been doing.
November 10, 2011 at 11:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tourguide (anonymous) says...
Good Point !! Thx..
November 10, 2011 at 12:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )