Herman Cain, one of the frontrunners in the Republican race for the White House, is battling to keep his candidacy afloat amid allegations of sexual harassment involving two female workers in the restaurant industry.Independent reports have already confirmed that at least one woman was paid a 5-6 figure settlement for her trouble. Of course, all of these allegations were covered up with a standard non-disclosure agreement, so we'll never hear what happened. And thus, there's no way this will derail The Cain Train.
In the first stage of a damage-limitation exercise, Cain did a live interview with Fox News in which he categorically denied sexually harassing anyone or making any out-of-court settlement himself. He described the allegations as "trumped-up".
But he acknowledged that the row was going to do some damage to his campaign, which had seen him take the lead in some polls.
"Obviously, some people will be turned off by this cloud over my campaign, but a lot of people are not going to be turned off," he said.
Ignoring the traditional advice of public relations consultants to get all the facts out into the open, Cain skirted round some of the details, ensuring the row will rumble on. Crucially, he was unable to say whether the National Restaurant Association had paid the two workers in a deal that bought their silence.
Cain, in a story broken by the Politico website, was accused in the 1990s of sexual harassment by two female staff at the association, a lobbying group for the hotel industry. Cain held a senior post in the association.
According to Politico, two female staff left the company after complaining about inappropriate behaviour by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable. They reportedly received a payout in return for signing an agreement to keep quiet about it.
In his first comments on the allegations, Cain said: "I have never sexually harassed anyone: I can say that. Secondly, I have never sexually harassed anyone, and, yes, I was falsely accused while I was at the National Restaurant Association. And I say falsely, because it turned out after the investigation to be baseless."
Is this Negro made of Teflon or what? Seriously, think about it:
He was head of the Kansas City Fed Reserve, and has run for President and US Senate before, yet he can claim the title of "Government Outsider" and nobody bats an eye.
He worked for a high profile lobbying organization, but still claims to be "against special interests".
He has proudly boasted about not wanting to hire a Muslim to a cabinet level position.
He was pro-choice, then pro-life.
His 9-9-9 Plan will effectively raise taxes on 87% of all Americans, many of whom are probably Conservatives.
He was for TARP.
He's got not one, but two confirmed cases of women who were paid off because of his undue sexual advances, yet Conservatives are coming out in droves in support of him today, claiming these allegations are merely the "lamestream media" trying to "keep a brotha down".[1]
This dude can weather that sorta storm, yet still be the frontrunner? Seriously?
The more I think about this guy, the more I realize how brilliant he is. I don't mean in the textbook "I went to Harvard" Obama book smarts, sense. Nope, Cain is street smart, and understands the psyche of his constituents far better than Obama. When in doubt, blame the media, because all Conservatives are conditioned to distrust the media, facts be damned. It's a "victimhood" approach that worked well for Sarah Palin. Cain is essentially running plays from the same book, subbing sexism for racism, and dude is #winning.
I hate the game and the player, but I can sorta respect the Grand Hu$tle.
Obama vs Cain next Fall. Book it.
Question: Are these sexual assault allegations going to kill Cain's momentum, or is this a one-news cycle story at best? Do you care if your President prolly rubbed his co-workers boobs and paid them to be quiet about it? Is there anything Cain can do to fall out of graces with GOP voters?
[1] Yes, I heard one Conservative talk show host claim Cain's only being blamed for harassment because he's black.
