Official

Herman Cain Announces Presidential Run

Tea Party favorite confirms bid in Atlanta.

GOP candidates have been opting out of the presidential race, but that has not deterred the "Hermanator." Cain, 65, announced his presidential run Saturday at Centennial Olympic Park in his native Atlanta to a cheering crowd. After months of traveling the country with his political action committee, the former CEO of a pizza chain and radio talk-show host said he has earned enough voter support to enter the race, and will run "a bottoms-up, outside-the-box campaign." If elected, Cain said he would attempt to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax. The Tea Party favorite supports a strong national defense, opposes abortion, and strongly disfavors President Obama's health-care law. He first entered the political scene when he argued with Bill Clinton at a town-hall meeting about the Democrat's health-care plan in 1994. That same year, he lost a three-way Republican U.S. Senate primary bid in Georgia.