Joe Burbank/AP Photo

CHICAGO – Herman Cain says his changing positions in recent days, such as equivocating on abortion rights and flip-flopping on negotiating with terrorism, are proof he has what it takes to be president.

“The thing that’s going to convince people that my campaign is credible is if I make a misstatement, I’m going to retract it,” he told reporters in Chicago today. “If I make a mistake, I’m going to admit I made a mistake. The last perfect person was hung on a cross 2,000 years ago.”

Cain, who hosted a $2,500 a plate fundraiser this afternoon, said he was running a campaign and not just on a “gigantic book tour” to sell his most recent memoir.

“It’s not a gigantic book tour,” he said. “If you call mixing five days of book tour with a campaign ‘a gigantic book tour,’ that’s a misconception.”

Cain also sought to clarify perhaps his biggest change in tune in recent days, mentioning that his 9-9-9 tax plan might actually be a 9-0-9 plan.

Cain surprised campaign watchers this weekend when he indicated that his most iconic proposal might have a hole in the middle of it.

To clarify, Cain said the 9-9-9 plan was still on the table. The 9-0-9 plan is a component of the larger plan, always had been, and applied only to the poor, he said.

“I want you all to be the first to get this right,” Cain told reporters. “9-9-9 has always been the plan. If they read the analysis, we always had a provision in terms of dollars for those at or below the poverty level. It is not a new addition to 9-9-9. People simply did not read the analysis. The way we give relief for those at or near poverty is the 9-0-9 component. It’s not new. It’s always been in the plan.”