CAIN & HIS PARTY.

Businessman Herman Cain has literally become a "hot potato" for the Republican Party hierarchy, and for his own good. There seemed to have been a great deal of confusion about whether he could really represent his party against an incumbent president, who was popular with young or younger people, in the main, because of his age.

Young people usually side with someone of their own generation, and at just 50 years of age, President Barack Obama would have an edge in that age bracket, and that could spark a generational conflict.

He is young, agile and downright likable in his own party, the Democratic Party, and a great number of independent voters too are mainly young or younger; therefore, the percentage calculation of voters in the whole country can tilt, and it will be greater on Obama's side.

Cain looked like he was about to climb into his early seventies, and his attraction stemmed from middle-aged and older people; and so far not many young conservative admirers have been seen proclaiming that they were listening to him and his ideas. There has been no report of that in the media, and not even a few interaction circumstances with the young and the restless, by Cain, has been noticed publicly.

That meant that, Cain's age, directly or indirectly, was an element in politics, but it should not to be misconstrued that he has no young sympathisers, or there was an age discrimination pattern being observed to be going on in his party or anywhere else.

It was just pointing out that his face off with Obama, should in case he (Cain) won the Republican Party's nomination, his appeal to young and aspiring voters, which would be pivotal in the Republican National Committee decision making to find a winning candidate, would be strongly argued for or against.

Would he be a problem or not? That would be followed by the discussions within a party, which has had racial contentions in its history. As in a short while ago, there was no meaningful connection between the African American (he preferred the word "black") community and the Republican Party.

This morning's headline in the Politico.com website says it all as, "GOP dilemma: How to handle Herman Cain". It (headline) mainly dealt with his persona, but there was more to it than that.

His rise in the nomination race has been phenomenal, as he was head-to-head with Gov. Mitt Romney, with respect to the front-runner position. A great majority of pollsters seemed to be visualizing that he could be Obama's challenger, and that could somehow pose a threat to party unity. If so, what would the Republican Party do?

Politics have never had sureties, as anything could happen; and Cain has shifted opinion in the whole country to his side, making it evident, that a black man could become the leader of an organization, which had been historically hostile to black needs and agendas.

If there was any type of commotion within the rank and file of that organization, what would the outcome of it be? Would it (outcome) be injurious to race relations or a good and acceptable concept to Americans?

It would also result in "black versus black" in the 2012 general election; and the votes in that community would be split. Even in a normal political atmosphere, that would not be beneficial to that community; and if others would tend to throw in their own grievances, there would be chaos. Where would that lead a nation that was in turmoil with an insecure, fragile economy and a heavy unemployment load of 9.1%.

The only hope would be that, in the latest Republican/CNN debate in Las Vegas, all the contenders for the nomination were poised to win. Rep. Michele Bachmann was great, except for mentioning Obama's extended family; and others, like Perry, Santorum and Gingrich; all showed great potential to become the nominee.

Therefore, it would behove the GOP to arrive at a decision to present a person, who had the best qualifications to be president of the United States, without any sign of division of any kind among its party faithfuls.

A smooth and equitable presidential election was what all the parties were expecting; and when that should happen, it would be good, not only for America, but for the entire world.

Peace would prevail in the Western world to counteract the insurgency, terrorism, radicalism .... from outside.

Cain or no Cain; that is the question.