LAS VEGAS — Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has skyrocketed to the top of the polls by pushing for a complete overhaul of the nation’s tax code, including the imposition of a 9 percent national sales tax, but Cain’s new front-runner status means he’ll have to defend that tax proposal as never before in a debate Tuesday night.
Cain’s so-called “9-9-9” plan calls for replacing the current tax code with 9 percent tax on individual and corporate income as well as the new sales tax.
But such a proposal may not go over well in Nevada, where residents already pay one of the highest sales taxes in the country — 8 percent — and are wrestling with some of the most devastating affects of the lingering recession, including joblessness and foreclosures.
| Republican Presidential Debate |
| Where: Las Vegas |
| When: 8 p.m. Tuesday |
| TV: CNN |
“So that would mean we would be paying over 17 percent on everything we buy,” University of Nevada political science professor David Damore said.
Cain and his tax plan are sure to be a central focus in Tuesday’s debate, which comes just as polls are showing the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO running even with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney nationally and beating Romney in bellwether South Carolina. A Rasmussen national poll released Monday showed Cain actually pushing ahead of President Obama by 2 percentage points.
“This is a critical debate,” said former Nevada Gov. Bob List, co-chairman of the Western Republican Leadership Conference, which is sponsoring the debate with CNN. “People are taking Herman Cain seriously now. And they want to know what his detailed thinking might be on foreign policy, issues facing the Western United States and generally his leadership grasp and his capacity to govern.”
Cain, List said, will have to be much more specific in defending his tax plan than in recent debates, where his answers were less explanatory than sound-bite friendly.
“It is a radical departure from our historic tax program and people need to be persuaded that it will not be detrimental,” List said. “People are looking to see if Herman Cain can do that.”
Cain’s surge has come at the expense of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has plummeted from front-runner status to single digits since entering the race belatedly in August.
Political observers blame Perry’s decline on his decidedly weak string of debate performances. The Las Vegas event will give Perry a crucial opportunity to redeem himself.
“He’s gone from slipping to being in real collapse right now,” said pollster Ron Faucheux, president of Clarus Research Group. “The debate performances have dealt a very serious blow against him.”
Faucheux said despite the polls showing Cain overtaking Romney, it’s more likely Romney will refrain from attacking Cain at the debate.
Reps. Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Rick Santorum have the most to gain from taking shots at Cain Tuesday night, Faucheux said, because they are all vying for the more conservative voters.
“Cain is a threat to everyone else besides Romney,” Faucheux said. “Cain took Perry’s votes away. Cain is in the position that Gingrich, Paul and Bachmann would like to have.”
