Some Chicago Boyz know each other from student days at the University of Chicago. Others are Chicago boys in spirit. The blog name is also intended as a good-humored gesture of admiration for distinguished Chicago School economists and fellow travelers.
My daughters have been listening to this one, and singing along with it. I like this one. It reminds me of a New Wave pop song circa 1980. (The keyboard reminds me of DEVO, the girl singer reminds me of the songer from the MoDettes or from Altered Images, and overall it reminds me of the Rezillos.) The video is just the scrolling lyrics, so no point in putting it up on here.
(Here is a nice live version, but this is not the original singer.)
Herman Cain raises some echoes of things we’ve seen before.
He reminds me of Ross Perot. The same outsider stance. The same businessman, anti-Washington background. His 999 plan reminds me of something that Perot might have come up with. But unlike Mr. Perot, Mr. Cain has charm, he has a sense of humor, he seems to have political rationality, and he seems not to be a megalomaniac. Perhaps most importantly, he is running as a Republican, which means he has a meaningful chance to actually win.
He reminds me of Reagan. A crowd-pleasing speaker who can get the base of the party on its feet and clapping. Again, a sense of humor, and a lack of apparent egotism. He is like the Reagan of the mid-60s, a person who is leaving a successful career in another field to get into politics, though of course he is doing so much later in life. Also, like Reagan, he does not sweat the small stuff, which will drive wonks of all stripes, and the MSM, into hysteria.
He reminds me of Clarence Thomas. He does not remind me of our two prior serious Black candidates for president, Mr. Obama and Rev. Jackson. He carries his African American heritage with dignity, and he is forthright about the hardships he and his family suffered. But he does not talk in terms of grievance or injustice, but of pride, progress and opportunity.
He reminds me of Wendell Willkie, a candidate from outside the mainstream of the GOP, with a business background, who surprised the Party machine and captured the nomination as the champion to drive the liberal-progressive monster from the White House. If the Germans had not overrun Western Europe in 1940, turning the election into a foreign policy election, Willkie would have had a good chance to beat FDR. The odds of 2012 being a foreign policy election are poor, unless Mr. Obama initiates open warfare with Iran.
Still, when you add it all up, the answer is no, this really is a brand new movie. We have not seen this movie yet.
Herman Cain is mostly different from all the earlier movies.
The ad with the guy smoking is a curve ball. Who does it appeal to? What does it mean? (Stop it at 40 seconds: Is that a joint?) What are we to make of this? It is funny, though.
We will likely see more surprises.
So, while my guess is that Mitt Romney will carry all before him, I would not bet on it, not yet.
http://youtu.be/RHKcbyJntyM
There is just so much right about this video.
Please note the video below, which provides important information for ChicagoBoyz readers. It contains go-go dance instruction from Angie Pontani, of the World Famous Pontani Sisters, previously mentioned here and here.
The Pontani Sisters are now touring with Los Straitjackets, including three Chicago area shows this weekend. I hope to be at one of these shows. The video shows you how to do their new dance number, the Brooklyn Slide.
Please practice at home and attain basic proficiency before trying these steps in public.