He worked at Coca-Cola, Pillsbury and Burger King before taking the helm of the failing Godfather's Pizza franchise, which he rescued by shuttering hundreds of restaurants.

That's all he did, eh? Guys, if that's all you could cobble together about Cain's time at Godfather's, you should have ended the excerpted sentence after “franchise” (for which a better word would have been “chain”).

The AP pair also omitted a couple of key elements of Cain's resume, specifically his tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association and his involvement as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, where he ultimately was elected chairman.

Here is a description of Cain's tenure at Godfather's found at a site called PizzaDominoes.com:

… in 1986, several franchises of Godfathers Pizza plummeted. And the pizza chain struggled to beat its competitors. So, Pillsbury selected Herman Cain to be the new president of Godfather's. Cain had previously rescued some Burger King chains from bankruptcy; thereby earning him a remarkable reputation. And with his leading abilities, he managed to settle some lawsuits, eliminated non-profitable units, introduced more products, and arranged for delivery services. As a result, the pizza chain gradually went back to its feet. Plus, newer pizzas attracted more customers. The mouthwatering bacon cheeseburger pizza and fruit-filled cherry and apple dessert pizzas were introduced.

Moreover, Godfather's Pizza focused on a one-number delivery system to compete with other pizza chains' home delivery systems. Fortunately, this system had worked and Godfather's eventually expanded. Furthermore, several humorous commercials were aired. This was the pizza chain's attempt to increase public awareness of its products and add a fun concept. Godfathers Pizza also introduced products to pubic schools. It developed fun games that were related to pizzas. So, teachers used these games to encourage young students to master mathematical basics. And the students who performed well were given rewards.

So you see, Ms. McCaffrey and Mr. Bluestein, Cain's success at Godfather's wasn't just about shutting down restaurants and (wink, wink) sending people to the unemployment line. It was about growth and innovation.

Here's what Cain's web site says about his Godfather's experience and the two significant resume items the AP reporters ignored, plus the 1994 encounter with Bill Clinton that first brought him to the nation's attention (and which the AP did mention):

Cain's official announcement speech is at his campaign's home page.

One gets the sense that Smith's description of Herman Cain's prospects is as inaccurate as his breezy putdown of Cain's former company.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.