It looks like the campaign of Herman ‘9-9-9’ Cain could have been dealt a final coup de grace following revelations of a 13-year affair with businesswoman Ginger White. In a message to supoprters, Cain has said he will “reassess” the future of his campaign.
These have been a tumultuous few weeks for the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO. After unexpectedly becoming the frontrunner in the Republican race, a series of sexual harassment allegations from his past surfaced, seriously denting his poll lead. Cain did his best to brush them off, but White’s claims might be harder to discount.
Cain, who strongly refutes White’s allegations (“I deny those charges, unequivocally”), previously claimed that the sexual harassment charges were a “witch-hunt” and a “smear campaign” aimed at sabotaging his poll lead. It appears that this approach may have encouraged White to speak out. She told an American TV network:
It bothered me that they were being demonised, sort of … they were treated as if they were automatically lying, and the burden of proof was on them. I felt bad for them.
If the allegations are proved to be true, it is surprising that Cain’s campaign were so blind to these lurking scandals, and that there was no contingency plan in place. Perhaps this is the down side of the very thing that attracted his supporters — his status as a Washington outsider.
Cain has attempted to discredit her, but the veracity of the claim may be largely irrelevant (as he recognised in his statement, the damage could be done: “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”). Cain’s main support base is the ultra-conservative and anti-Washington Tea Party, who were attracted by his unconventional approach. This transgression of the Seventh Commandment may be a step too far for these religious conservatives.
While Cain insists that the Cain Train is a still-a-rolling — “9-9-9, 9-9-9. We’re doing fine.” — the question remains as to who his supporters will flock to next should his campaign, as expected, concede defeat.
Rick Perry is a likely contender for those votes, as the gap between Cain and current favourite Newt Gingritch seems too hard to bridge. But for Mitt Romney, the chance to run against Obama in 2012 is getting closer and closer. All his campaign has to do is keep up the momentum, keep their heads down, and watch everyone else destroy themselves.
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