The Candidate Doth Protest Too Much

UPDATE IX: "You understand, of course, that Herman Cain is never going to go away.

'Me, a womanizer? I would never have thought they’d come up with that one,' Cain wrote to his supporters this week in an essay promising to — yes! — keep talking.

Where do you think he’ll pop up next? As the newest Fox commentator? On 'Dancing With the Stars?' As Donald Trump’s guest judge on 'Celebrity Apprentice' As a contestant on 'Celebrity Apprentice?'

We’ll know all too soon. The only part of his last chapter that remains sort of fascinating is Ginger White, the accuser who has been given credit in some corners for bringing the Cain campaign down. All things considered, that couldn’t have been much of a strain. ('Rumors of Extramarital Affair End Campaign of Presidential Candidate Who Didn’t Know China Has Nuclear Weapons,' read a headline in The Onion.)" [Link added.]

Read The New York Times, The Last Herman Cain Column.


UPDATE VIII: BTW, I can't wait to hear our Pastor Truthiness (formerly known as Pastor Poppins) defend Cain on Friday.

But expect the Pastor to avoid the subject and enlighten us with his wisdom on God's wrath, or delusional birther lies, WMDs in Iraq, or even mythical missiles over LA.


UPDATE VII: His modus operandi seems to be economically vulnerable women. Read the Washington Post, Ginger White accuses Herman Cain of long affair.

So much for that NoBullU prediction.


UPDATE IX: At the CNBC in Michigan, Cain "offer[ed] a rather strange defense, saying, 'For every one person that comes forward with a false accusation, there are probably thousands who will say that none of that sort of activity ever came from Herman Cain.'

While having the majority of women you've met not accuse you of sexual harassment might seem like a low bar for a human being, let alone a presidential candidate, the debate audience cheered enthusiastically."

Read Mother Jones, Herman Cain: Not Every Woman I Know Has Accused Me Of Sexual Harassment.


UPDATE VIII: For a timeline of "the unfolding allegations and Cain's responses," read the Washington Post, Cain’s response to accusations.


UPDATE VII: Add to the Cain defenses that Republi-con tried-and-true technique: appear on Hedgehog News and make stuff up. Read Politico, Fox will correct Block claim on air.


UPDATE VI: "Cain, like those before him, was a politician, standing behind a microphone, surrounded by the clicking of cameras. He wagged fingers and denied. From his spot on the dais, Cain employed the tried-and-true techniques so often trotted out by politicians in the headlights of a scandal. And what struck us was his range: he didn’t just pick one tactic, he used them all. . .

Deny . . .

Split hairs . . .

Trash-talk the accuser . . .

Blame the media . . .

Play the victim . . .

Blame political enemies . . .

Invoke the wife . . .

Sneak in a commercial . . .

Read the Washington Post, Cain’s defense: a script we’ve heard before.


UPDATE V: Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for the Washington Post, "offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective,' and she writes in her column, Herman Cain discredits himself:

"There’s really no way to adequately describe how downright weird Herman Cain’s news conference was today. There was Cain referring to 'Herman Cain,' a throwback to Bob Dole’s frequent use of self-referential third person. There was the part where he told us that there may be other allegations --- but those will be false. Memorable, too, was his insistence that the claimants are all anonymous, when in fact two women have been identified by name. Then there was the ranting and raving about the media, although Sharon Bialek came forth with no media filter. I sorta liked the part where he conceded that there was no 'definitive' — definitive in the sense of “any” — proof that he was the victim of a conspiracy.

In a way, this was a fitting downfall: The slick ex-talk show host undone by his own rambling. He was no longer charming. He was desperate and entirely unbelievable. Forget the presidency. Forget becoming a conservative icon. Cain succeeded only in leaving the impression that he may be a bit off his rocker. . .

Who is to be believed: Cain or the women? Certainly Cain has managed to discredit himself as much, or more, than any of them have.

What about those bloggers and talk show hosts who went to the ramparts defending him and pushed the narrative that this was all a racist plot? One only hopes that readers and listeners will take their future utterances with a large helping of salt. These 'genuine' conservatives who pretend to talk for an entire political mvement, it seems, have rather poor judgment. Good thing the GOP electorate as a whole is blessed with a good deal more common sense. . ."

UPDATE IV: "If true, the experience related by Sharon Bialek, a former employee of the National Restaurant Association’s educational foundation, was more than a joke. Allegedly, on the pretense of showing Bialek the restaurant association’s offices, Cain parked the car and essentially assaulted Bialek, slipping his hand under her skirt and trying to bring her head toward his lap.

Not a very presidential image that.

When Bialek protested, reminding Cain that she had a boyfriend, he allegedly said, 'You want a job, right?'

Corroborating testimony via written statements from two other individuals, whom Bialek had told about the incident at the time, including her then-boyfriend, further reduces Cain’s wiggle room.

Read the Washington Post, Herman Cain and the parked car.

It's the audacity of grope:




UPDATE III: Did you hear Grace Vuoto rip Pastor Truthiness (formerly known as Pastor Poppins) a new one on Friday? Loved it!


UPDATE II: 9-9-9 has more than one meaing to Cain. Read Politico, Herman Cain accuser attorney: Settlement dated 9/99, Kilgore signed.

Coincidentally, Cain "resigned as president of the NRA effective June 30, 1999, before his three-year term was up, yet these board members say they were never fully informed as to why."

UPDATE: "Herman Cain, the long-shot Republican presidential candidate turned frontrunner, has done just about everything wrong since news broke Sunday night that his former employer had paid two women to settle sexual harassment complaints against him.

Cain denied it. He said the women didn’t understand his humor. He said his accusers fabricated the charges. He said he couldn’t remember the details, then suddenly he could. He said he had no knowledge of the settlement, then suddenly recalled some details, which turned out to be vastly understated. He publicly predicted more allegations would surface. He blamed his opponents, he howled about racism, and he accused the media and the entire city of Washington of trying to do him in.

On Wednesday morning, he raised the paranoia dial another notch. 'There are factions trying to destroy me personally, and this campaign,' he announced, revealing this conspiracy to a group of technology executives at the Ritz-Carlton in Tyson’s Corner."

Read the Washington Post, The Herman Cain crack-up.

Cain "might have a real problem on his hands" with the sexual harassment allegations. Read The New York times, Harassment Allegations Could Cut at Core of Cain’s Appeal, which notes that "blaming the messenger, if it can be an invaluable first line of defense, can also be a strategy with a short shelf life."

And his campaign stonewalled too long, the 'pushback' should have included all "mitigating and qualifying information at the outset, for the initial story." Read the Washington Post, Herman Cain and the penalties for stonewalling.