"My toe is no longer in the water, it's all the way up to my neck," Cain said. "I think I have a great chance of not only winning the nomination but the Presidency."
That was the message in a conference call with the potential GOP presidential candidate Monday night, telling bloggers things are going really well as he continues his work with his presidential exploratory committee.
Just weeks ago, Cain won the straw poll at the tea party American Policy Summit in Phoenix, easily beating big names like Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney. However, Cain has been popular with the tea party since it's beginning and gave his first speech to the grassroots movement on April 15, 2009.
Cain said in the call that the grassroots support for his exploratory committee has been unbelievable and continues to grow with thousands of volunteers wanting to help promote his small government, fiscally conservative message to voters.
"I have a very big name i.d. with the people on the ground, with the foot soldiers," he said. Throughout the call, Cain was nothing less than confident in his ability to take on Barack Obama, saying he would expose Obama's weaknesses and vulnerabilities immediatly in a debate, especially if the President doesn't have his teleprompter handy. Cain said he would attack him first and foremost on his economic policies, exposing everything from the lack of job creation to spending and entitlement reform.
"We are not going to cut the deficit by trimming around the edges," he said. "We have got to restructure every social program in Washington D.C."
Cain also had strong opinions about ObamaCare, or what he calls, the health care deform bill.
"ObamaCare is a disaster," he said. "I don't believe we can fix ObamaCare. We must repeal it and replace it."
Cain suggested HR 3400, or the Empowering Patients First Act, as a replacement of ObamaCare, saying the bill promotes the free market to improve the health care system rather than an overreach and expansion of the federal government.
Many have questioned whether Cain can be a viable candidate for president considering he has never held public office, but Cain prides himself on his real world experience which has developed through his work in the private sector and by saving corporations from bankruptcy. Cain said the question of experience shouldn't be about politics but about the ability to solve problems.
Cain also touched on the economic issue of rising energy costs as the Obama Administration considers tapping the strategic oil reserve to try and ease the pain at the pump.
"Using the strategic energy reserve to keep prices down is dumb," Cain said on the call. "The strategic energy reserve is supposed to be for a national security emergency."
Cain went on to explain that the United States has never had an independent energy policy and that if he won the nomination and the presidency, his administration would put forward a plan to responsibly tap into natural resources available in the United States, releasing the U.S. from the captivity and ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East.
As the race for the White House continues to heat up, Cain implied he was ready to take on the challenges America faces.
"Look, I'm not going to pander to anyone. Pandering is what most politicians do. Leaders tell you the truth."