Herman Cain may have thought he was in the fight of his life as a front runner for the GOP presidential nomination. But with prior sexual harassment charges against him being uncovered, his difficult fight may only be just beginning.
During 1996-99 while Cain was president of the National Restaurant Association, multiple sexual harassment charges were levied against the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO. According to sources, the issue was kept very low key, was settled internally and several women received an undisclosed settlement. Now some 15 years later, the situation has resurfaced and been made public, causing Cain an obvious amount of discomfort as he has been caught mixing up his story in a futile attempt to keep it from torpedoing his race for the presidency.
In recent appearances and television interviews, Cain gave a set of different, even contradictory answers regarding the harassment charges. On Sunday, his campaign did not deny the allegations but tried to find a scapegoat by accusing “the Inside-the-Beltway media” of “dredging up thinly sourced allegations.” Then on Monday morning, Cain said he did not sexually harass anyone and didn’t know about any financial settlements. But by Monday afternoon, Cain confirmed that the allegations made were found to have “no basis” after an internal investigation by the restaurant association.
“No. 1, in all of my over 40 years of business experience running businesses and corporations, I have never sexually harassed anyone,” Cain said during a speech at the National Press Club, in a failed attempt to spin the story to his advantage . “No. 2, while at the restaurant association … I was falsely accused of sexual harassment.” Cain then said he was “unaware” of any settlement that had been reached, adding “I hope it wasn’t for much because I didn’t do anything.” But several hours later, Cain once again changed his explanation, saying he did not know a second woman had filed a complaint and that one woman received “maybe three months salary.”
“I don’t remember. It might have been two months,” Cain told Fox News. “I do remember my general counsel saying we didn’t pay all of the money they demanded.”
With such a fluid and ever-changing story, it will be very difficult for Cain to convince the masses of his innocence. And as soon as his Republican challengers get ahold of it, they will certainly have a field day with it as they eat Cain alive like a lion among a pack of deer. The only question remaining now is, how long will it be before Cain folds?
You'd think, given that Politico, gave the Cain campaign 10 days notice prior to posting the story that Cain himself would've been better prepared to respond in a more credible fashion. That said. From the minute this story "broke" on Politico I could see that the media was going to overplay their coverage and perhaps (when all said and done) end up looking like "smug, tools" for one of Cain's opponents who actually leaked the story to Politico in the first place. <rove>Now. Let me be clear. I do NOT in any way condone women being subjected to ANY form harrasment. Period. But in a nutshell THIS is what the story looks like to me: Years ago 2 female employees alleged that Mr. Cain made sexually suggestive comments to them that made them feel "uncomfortable." There was NO physical act. Just inappropriate comments. The women asked for,and recieved, a monetary settlement (a few months pay), which was LESS then they demanded. They also agreed to leave the company and not speak of the matter again. And THIS is how a… Read more »