Cain to slow campaign pace to avoid gaffes

GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain is slowing down his pace after suffering through several rocky weeks on the campaign trail. 

A series of controversial and unusual statements at events around the country and in interviews have led to questions about whether Cain has the ability to capitalize on his recent surge in the polls, which has left him in first place in some national surveys.

{mosads}The slower pace is intended to allow the candidate and his advisers more time for preparation and rest, a Cain official said. 

“We’re trying to slow down a little bit, make sure he’s rested, make sure he’s focused,” J.D. Gordon, the campaign’s vice president for communications, said in an interview with The Daily Beast. 

Gordon attributed gaffes to the grueling pace of the campaign, and said “when you do that and don’t use a Teleprompter, sometimes you can make a mistake. … People understand he’s not a career politician; he’s very spontaneous, they know how fast he’s going. People give him more leeway than they would someone who’s in Congress or a governor.”

That could be the very thing that continues to propel Cain, who has led the Republican field in polls released this week. By painting himself as an unconventional and roguish candidate, Cain has been able to draw strong distinction from the other GOP front-runner — Mitt Romney — and bring in support from Tea Party conservatives.

Both Cain and the campaign have been struggling to handle the candidate’s quick rise to the top of the polls. 

An article in The New York Times Thursday chronicled some of the behind-the-scenes dysfunction, reporting the campaign struggled to stick to a schedule and get basic aspects of the organization operative.

Gordon acknowledged some of the struggles in his interview with the Daily Beast, saying the campaign wants to set a “more deliberate pace … so we don’t make those kinds of mistakes.” 

The spokesman said Cain has been doing as many as eight events a day, leading to some of his more bruising gaffes. 

Earlier this week, Cain told CNN that abortion was “a choice that that family or that mother has to make,” raising eyebrows among anti-abortion conservatives. Cain also talked about building an electrified fence that would kill those trying to enter the country illegally, later explaining the idea as both a joke and a serious policy proposal.

Additionally, Cain said he would consider a prisoner swap that would release suspected terrorists at Guantánamo Bay, said he was happy to not know the name of foreign leaders and released a strange Web ad featuring close-ups of Chief of Staff Mark Block smoking a cigarette.