The SRLC is not the first time I’ve come into contact with Herman Cain, the activist and talk radio show host from Georgia.  Cain spoke at a couple of events where I also spoke, and as I told people in the media filing center, I had the misfortune of following him on one of those occasions.  Actually, Hugh Hewitt and I followed Herman at the Defending the American Dream summit staged by Americans for Prosperity, and while Herman was bringing down the house, Hugh and I exchanged looks that verified we were both thinking the same thing — Ah, nuts!

At the earlier events, I only met Herman briefly, but at this event, I had the opportunity to visit Herman in his hotel suite for a 12-minute interview.  Sometimes interviews can be dry affairs, when subjects attempt to stick to talking points and stay away from conversation.  Herman didn’t shy away from it, though, and you’ll see the results here.  I’ve always been impressed with his speeches, but I was even more impressed with Herman Cain after getting a chance to see how he thinks and how philosophically grounded he is in conservatism.  The former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza knows how to run an organization, how to turn around a failing business, and more importantly, understands the proper relationship between government and private enterprise, a bit of which he shares with me in this interview.

Herman also addresses the big hint he gave about a possible presidential run at the end of his speech at the SRLC, in a remarkably open and honest way.  He’s not playing games here and not issuing non-denial denials, but genuinely attempting to ascertain if he can take conservative principles to a higher level and broader audience.  I’m hoping Hot Air readers will see Herman Cain as intriguing and as likable as I did.

Note: I apologize for the light level issue in this video; I should have asked Herman to switch positions with me to get rid of that backlight, but didn’t realize it was a problem until after I got back to my computer.