Herman Cain is the obvious answer - the only 2012 candidate who comes close to embodying Trump's combination of outsider appeal, emphasis on cultural divides, and simplistic politics - to the point that Trump's success makes it worth contemplating how close Cain might have come to defeating Romney if he had not dropped out of the race before the primaries began. At the time I dismissed him as an implausible nominee. Now I am not so sure.
I agree with most of this, but did Cain have the distinct appeal to blue-collar Whites that was key to Trump's success in the primary and general?
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