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 good number of right-wingers view this thing: "Desperation: High Tech Lynching of Uppity Hermain Cain Begins." Read: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2800181/…I think, Unless more information emerges that's much more damaging in nature than what's already been reported, this "media attack" could actually initially boost Cain's support among right-wingers (his target audience) rather than costing him support.</rove>
I agree with you Truth this is probably a smear campaign, but at least its getting everybody to take a second look. The way he handled it was all wrong too since he looked like a lier. I think it's funny tho how all these repulicans are crumbling.
One more thought…..I'm a bit disturbed by what I've been noticing regarding the tenore and tone of the mainsteam political media in covering Hermain Cain (a BLACK Conservative Repub)..especially when you consider that_until she announced last month that she wasn't running for President_this same political media had gleefully chased Sarah Palin around like lap-dogs for the past 3 YEARS, hanging on her every word treating her AS IF she's a credible anything!?! The outright indignation displayed by CNN, and MSNBC, hosts and pundit-idiots towards the very presense of Hermain Cain on the national political stage has really gotten My attention. The insensed reactions of MSNBC hosts, Ed Shultz and Lawrence O'Donnell, in particular (and to a lesser degree, Chris Mathews) towards Hermain Cain comes across to me as rather elitist and racist, quite frankly. Is Cain's agenda a joke? Yes. But no more of a joke than the agenda of GOP party period. And certainly no more of a joke than Sarah Palin's. And yet if she were to hold a press conference TODAY just to HINT at "POSSIBLY" changing her mind to run for President in 2012_and that she'll let everyone know in 2 months_the media would drop everything and the lap-dog chase would be on again, in a nano-second. But that same liberal media has long been engaging in not just political_but very Personal_attacks against Mr. Cain. He is dismissed outright as a "baffoon"…"grossly ignorant"…a kind of "Steppin Fechit."…the names go on and on. H*ll, CNN and MSNBC couldn't even give moderate coverage of Perry's recent "Yep, I'm drunk or high on something" speech in New Hampshire this past weekend (a speech btw that MANY right-wingers ARE actually discussing) because they are too obssessed with taking yet another opportunity to berate and belittle Cain. A BLACK Conservative Republican.It's easy to see why the media has little-to-NO credibility, anymore, with a lot of Americans..smh.
Excerpt: "Cain Game: Why Sexual Harrassment Allegations Won’t Sink Herman’s Campaign"[…] Fleeting moments of human frailty, especially of the testosterone-addled kind, are inevitable and should remain private, absent extenuating circumstances (like physical assault).<span></span> I’m generally opposed to the press setting moral standards that most of us can’t meet, especially when there is far more important business–like Herman’s Cain prohibitive lack of knowledge about almost every relevant issue–to be discussed. I also find the lascivious and self-righteous media extravaganza that inevitably attends such events to be disgraceful.Some additional thoughts:Yes, sexual harassment is different from general poking around since it is a form of aggressive behavior–but it is also more difficult to prove (although the two women in question received cash settlements from the Restaurant Association, which means that we’re probably dealing with some form of industrial-strength obnoxiousness here).All this may work to Cain’s advantage. I was listening to Rush Limbaugh for a few minutes in a cab this afternoon and the immediate assumption by Limbaugh and several callers was that Cain was being set up by the liberal media. The notion of black man as sexual predator is a particularly toxic stereotype–and it may intensify the self-righteous satisfaction some Republicans are getting from supporting a conservative black man for President. As in: those liberals pretend to be pro-black, but every time a Clarence Thomas or Herman Cain comes down the pike, they throw sex at him.If Cain begins to lose altitude, I don’t think this story will be the cause. His equivocation on abortion is a far more serious problem for Republican primary voters…On the other hand, Republicans are sufficiently infuriated by the non-Fox press that they may be tempted to keep the pizza man afloat for a while, just to protest the media, ah, harassment. […]Full Read: http://swampland.time.com/2011/11/01/cain-game-wh…