On Presidential Dreamers
Jules Witcover

Herman Cain, the former Godfather's Pizza tycoon who wants to be president, embarrassed putative 2012 Republican frontrunners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney in the Florida straw poll by winning it with 37 percent of the vote. Thus was born the latest boomlet, and temporary spotlight, for a hopeful sans real hope of gaining the White House.

The sage who said that every American mother may hope her son will grow up to be president may be technically correct, but most of history says otherwise. Today, especially, when presidential campaigns cost hundreds of millions of dollars, even those candidates who buy their way into the race primarily with personal wealth are destined to fall by the wayside. Think, for example, Ross Perot and Steve Forbes, both of whom shelled out millions of their own lucre for brief moments in the sun, and Donald Trump, who this year only flirted with the idea.

Who remembers, in alphabetical order, Larry Agran, John Ashbrook, Roger Branigin, Ned Coll (who brought a dead rat to a New Hampshire primary debate), Phil Crane, Lar Daly, Ben Fernandez, Lenora Fulani, John Hagelin, Alan Keyes, Howard Phillips, Milton Shapp, Morry Taylor, Fred Thompson and Sam Yorty?

There have always been such dreamers, acting out of fancy or conviction, who have come and gone, at best as asterisks. Some had done so with high hopes, others with the limited objective of airing a message or point of view that might not otherwise enter into the national dialogue.

While they often have been regarded nuisances and hijackers of airtime better reserved for "serious" candidates, they often too oblige the other hopefuls to address important issues they might prefer to duck. In the current race, Republican Ron Paul plays that role, as did Democrat Dennis Kucinich in two previous elections.

You could also put Ralph Nader in that category as a third-party entrant, not without significant consequences for the outcome. It can be reasonably argued that, had he not run for president in 2000, much of his support from liberals might have gone to Al Gore, which would have secured the latter's election as president. Some Democrats still lose sleep over that scenario; some Republicans bless their lucky stars that Nader did run.

One regular Republican politician who ran several times for president and was nominated once, Bob Dole, has defended the process whereby known politicians who have long toiled in the vineyard usually wind up with the party nominations. "It always seemed to me," he said in an interview some years ago, "you should have some party experience, you should have done some legwork in the party. I don't say you earn the spot; I mean, it's never yours. But I think it's just the way it ought to work."

Dole himself followed that path, running and losing for vice president with Gerald Ford in 1976, battling the senior George Bush and losing for the nomination in 1988 and finally becoming the GOP nominee in 1996, with many Republicans agreeing it was "his turn."

There was a time, too, before television brought presidential elections into America's living rooms with the 1950s, when presidential candidates in both parties had to climb the ladder of public prominence by personality or ideas, to become known and recognized through their pictures in the newspapers and in movie newsreels. No longer.

The television industry, both network and cable, and the Internet have become much more important communications vehicles, which veteran and newcomer politicians alike can use to enter the public dialogue. The proliferation of candidate debates, sponsored by the news outlets as well as the parties, has been an irresistible magnet for longshots like Herman Cain to get into the game, and to stay in as long as the free time is offered.

If history is any guide, Cain and the other longshots in the 2012 Republican presidential race eventually will be winnowed out, either by lack of funds to go the distance or by falling poll numbers or actual rejection by voters in the primaries. For now, Cain enjoys his hour in the sun, but it's not likely to shine on him all the way to the GOP convention next summer.