In a conference call this morning, Herman Cain told his senior staff that he is “reassessing” whether to remain in the race. He will make his final decision “over the next several days.”
UPDATE: National Review was on the call. It lasted five minutes.
“Obviously, you’re all aware of this recent firestorm that hit the news yesterday,” Cain began, his voice somber. “First thing I want to do is say to you what I have said publicly: I deny those charges, unequivocally. Secondly, I have known this lady for a number of years. And thirdly, I have been attempting to help her financially because she was out of work and destitute, desperate. So, thinking that she was a friend — and I have helped many friends — I now know that she wasn’t the friend that I thought she was. But it was a just a friendship relationship.”
“That being said, obviously, this is cause for reassessment,” he continued. “As you know, during the summer we had to make some reassessments based upon our financial situation. We were able to hang in there; we reassessed the situation and kept on going. We also did a reassessment after the Iowa straw poll and we made another reassessment after the Florida straw poll. When the previous two accusations, false accusations, came about, we made another assessment. The way we handled those was, we continued on with our schedule. We made an assessment about what was going to happen to our support. But our supporters, and even some folks that we didn’t have as supporters, they stood with us, and they showed it not only in terms of their verbal support, they showed it in terms of their dollars.”
“Now, with this latest one, we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud, in some people’s minds, as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth,” Cain said.
“Over the next several days, we are going to continue with the schedule as usual,” he said. “I’ve got a major speech tonight at Hillsdale College on national security and foreign policy, and I will deliver it with vim, vigor, and enthusiasm. And then tomorrow we’ve got some media appearances scheduled. So we’re going to continue until we complete our assessment over the next several days.”
“But if a decision is made, different than to plow ahead, you all will be the first to know,” he said. “So until that time, I want to continue to thank you all for your support, thank you for your prayers. It’s taken an emotional toll, but the people in the audience tonight will never know it.”
“It’s also taken a toll on my wife and family, as you would imagine,” he concluded. “Any time you put another cloud of doubt, unfortunately, in the court of public opinion, for some people, you’re guilty until proven innocent. And so, the public will have to decide whether they believe her or whether they believe me. That’s why we’re going to give it time, to see what type of response we get from our supporters.”
And yet we continue to wonder why no good folks ever get involved in politics. It is a sport for sociopaths and narcissists. We are truly in the decent of our civilization.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI think you meant descent. Spelling must only be for the "narcissists".
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI hope your assessment depends on whether the allegations are true. Otherwise, it is a strange evaluation of what "descent of our civilization" means.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe previous charges have been all but disproven, and the current one is dubious at best.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRecent revelations are that a previous boss had to get a restraining order against her for stalking.
None of the prior allegations have been disproven, and the current one involves a woman who has actual evidence of some kind of a relationship, as well as a tacit admission of guilt coming from Cain's attorney. There are plenty of good people in politics that we don't need to shed any tears for this non-entity.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOf course she has evidence of a relationship, they've known each other for 13 years.
As to your claim that there is a tacit admission from the attorney, now you are just making things up.
As to the previous charges, the problems with them have been well and thoroughly dealt with elsewhere. Your eagerness to get Cain out of the race blinds you to reality.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYeah, I'm obviously the one blinded by my feelings for a candidate.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"well and thoroughly dealt with elsewhere". Care to give us any clues as to where you were reassured to that point?
If you are seriously buying the "we are just friends" and "I was just helping out a friend" bits, then you are really and truly gullible beyond description. Please read the Atlanta FOX channel 5 reporter's story.
They texted the number on Ms. White's cell phone and Mr. Cain called them back. The phone records show numerous calls, some in the very early hours and after business hours.
And let's recall that this woman was not a campaign worker or employee (and it stretches credibility way far to imagine that she could be a parishioner who Pastor Cain was contacting in regard to spiritual matters). I don't know about you, but if I try on the thought experiment of how I could explain this type of thing credibly to my spouse, I cannot think of any plausible explanation except to cop to a non-meretricious long term relationship for sex and then grab for a helmet to protect me from flying crockery and frying pans.
There are, amazingly, those who will not abandon the man. I am in awe. Perhaps in his post-candidate career he can go back to selling pizzas to those people. What else does he have at this point?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy would a woman who was being financially supported by Cain ruin a good thing by coming clean about it, if it wasn't true?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"As to your claim that there is a tacit admission from the attorney"
Mark, Lin Wood is the most feared defamation of character lawyer on the planet. He single handily destroyed ABC, CNN, the New York Times, the AJC and (wait for it) the FBI.
If he's representing a client - on retainer no less - and a person comes out of the woodwork to offer such a scurrilous and titillating accusation like "I had a 13-year affair with your client" and you don't sue for defamation of character, then that speaks volumes.
Lin Wood didn't deny the claims on their face. Instead, he said that they don't matter.
That's all I need to hear.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGiving the regular tongue baths that you give Romney, it's hardly surprising that this little bit would be all you needed to hear.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnyone pushing the 'lawyer non-denial is equivalent to admitting it' is either hopelessly biased against Cain, or so stupid as to be a waste of good oxygen. That goes for you, Paul Zummo, as well as anyone else.
Cain denied the allegation on CNN even before it was made. If his lawyer had denied it as well, these same bozos would be saying 'over-denial must make it true'.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHow does that disprove anything? It's irrelevent.
And the previous charges weren't disproven at all. The fact that they were made at all was basically the only thing stated. And no, companies don't routinely pay out 50-100K to any woman who mentions the words "sexual harassment".
I would say Cain is the Sharon Angle of the election but she was at least a legislator. This guy is a cipher. I'm just sorry he wasn't nominated so I could laugh as he went down 70/30.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYour knowledge of how the legal system works is as faulty as your knowledge of how the economic system works.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseClapping your hands over your ears and saying 'lalalalalala I don't believe you!' does not constitute disproving anything. Two of the prior women were paid off 5 figure settlements a decade before Cain ran for the presidency.
And no, it ISN'T true that multiple sexual harassment allegations happen to every executive. They pretty rarely happen. There are far more unreported incidents of sexual harassment than there are false accusations of sexual harassment--ask ANY professional women, and every single one can tell you of an incident in which they were harassed.
Also, Herman Cain has been calling this woman at 4 a.m.? Sorry, if I saw 4 a.m. phone calls to or from my husband from some woman that wasn't his mother, I would be asking him to find a nice hotel room somewhere.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSpeaking of clapping your hands and shouting la la la.
5 figures settlements is going away money in these kinds of things. Such settlements happen every day because they are cheaper than going to trial, by several orders of magnitude.
And yes, harrasment suits are run of the mill.
Your eagerness to believe and propagate any story that damages a candidate who you don't support says nothing good about your moral character.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf the stories are true, then the man hasn't the judgment needed to run the nation. Did he not realize this would come up?
Now if we can get a few more to drop out so only viable candidates are left.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAs opposed to the indecent of our civilization?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseReally, you think Cain is a victim?
Really?
I am amazed by the faithfulness that this man has inspired in some of his supporters.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFaithfulness based on faithlessness!!!!!
what a combo!
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse