Herman Cain Bounces Back

After a lackluster debate performance this week, Herman Cain picked up some impressive support. First, Arthur Laffer -- the economist for whom the Laffer Curve is named -- praised the 9-9-9 plan. This did rebutted the inference at the debate that some unknown guy in Ohio had just made the plan up on a whim.

Laffer, who was the architect of Reagan's supply-side economist, called Herman Cain's plan a "wonderful plan."

Laffer told Human Events that the proposal

was pro-growth and would create the proper conditions for America's economy to expand and thrive again.
"Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan would be a vast improvement over the current tax system and a boon to the U.S. economy," Laffer told HUMAN EVENTS in a statement. "The goal of supply-side tax reform is always a broadening of the tax base and lowering of marginal tax rates.
"Mr. Cain’s plan is simple, transparent, neutral with respect to capital and labor, and savings and consumption, and also greatly decreases the hidden costs of tax compliance. There is no doubt that economic growth would surge upon implementation of 9-9-9."
Laffer also said that "such a system provides the least avenues to avoid paying taxes, yet also maintains the strongest incentives for work effort, production, and investment."

But Herman's week got even better:  Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour praised the candidate on the Laura Ingraham show and said that if Cain is the Republican nominee, he will "sweep the South."

Barbour is highly respected for the outstanding job he has done as governor of Mississippi -- including during Hurricane Katrina -- as well as his role as a political operative in the Reagan administration. Indeed, many of us hoped he would run for president.

Barbour is a former head of the Republican National Committee; he can therefore be fairly described as an "Establishment Republican."  And he is former head of the Republican Governor's Association, which makes his plug for Cain so much more interesting, and telling, given that Cain's rivals for the nomination include a sitting governor, Rick Perry, and a former governor, Mitt Romney.