Political Headlines of the Day

I think this pretty much spells the end of Herman Cain's candidacy:

CAIN: Gave Money To Accuser Ginger White Without Wife’s Knowledge...

Denies it was an affair...

Stephanopoulos Gloats: Will My Interview With New Accuser 'Spell the End'?

As I said on the radio the other day, where there's smoke there might be fire, but where there's flames, there's definitely fire and right now Herman's flaming.

Political Cartoon of the Day

Heh:

The Cain Scrutiny

A clever title from The Daily Caller:

The Cain Scrutiny — Day 4. We still don’t know exactly what Herman Cain is supposed to have done wrong or who claimed he did, but a lack of facts doesn’t mean it’s not news. For the latest dearth of details, let’s go to the Associated Press: “A third former employee considered filing a workplace complaint against Herman Cain over what she considered aggressive and unwanted behavior when she and Cain, now a Republican presidential candidate, worked together during the late 1990s, the woman told The Associated Press on Wednesday. She said the behavior included a private invitation to his corporate apartment… The woman spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying she feared retaliation. She was located and approached by the AP as part of its investigation into harassment complaints against Cain that were disclosed in recent days and have thrown his presidential campaign into turmoil.” Who is this woman? What did Cain do or say to her? The AP doesn’t seem to care, so apparently we shouldn’t either. In other news: The Cain campaign says the Perry campaign tipped Politico to the anonymous, unspecified accusations from at least a decade ago, but the Perry campaign blames Romney. And if you think this was the real goal of this story, that’s only because you’ve been following the news industry for more than a few days. No matter what Herman Cain did or didn’t do, all of the GOP candidates are guilty of the greatest crime of all: threatening Obama’s second term.

I was skeptical of this story at first since it appeared to be little more than a political hitjob by a leftist Obama-supporting website. However, we're up to three different women making complaints, and other reputable people who witnessed the incidents who said they've been expecting this information to come out. I think Herman's done.

Political Cartoon of the Day

From Facebook:

Cain Accuser Wants Her Piece of the Pie

What a circus:

One of the women who accused GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment wants to tell her side of the story but is barred by a confidentiality agreement, her attorney in Washington said Tuesday.

Lawyer Joel P. Bennett called on the National Restaurant Association, where the woman and Cain worked in the late 1990s, to release the woman from her written promise not to talk about the allegations or disparage the trade group.

“It is just frustrating that Herman Cain is going around bad-mouthing the two complainants, and my client is blocked by a confidentiality agreement,” Bennett said. “The National Restaurant Association ought to release them and allow them to respond. ”

The association, which Cain headed from 1996 to 1999, has remained mum since the story broke in Politico on Sunday evening, citing a long-standing policy not to comment on personnel issues. Cain denied the sexual harassment allegations, saying they were “totally baseless and totally false.”

Bennett represents one of the two women, who attended an Ivy League school and now works for the federal government. She has avoided the limelight since the allegations were aired, and she is staying with relatives while the media stakes out her home in suburban Maryland, Bennett said.

I don't believe Cain has any control over the issue at this time because the agreement was between the woman and the National Restaurant Association. And it's not in their best interest to release her from her agreement since that could make them look bad and would open the door to other actions against the organization and its employees.

Chances are this will just drip-drip-drip for days and you know the media won't let it alone as long as Cain is a threat to win the nomination.

Political Video of the Day

On a day when a lot of things could have one very bad for Herman Cain (in the wake of the Politico story from last night), Cain appears at the National Press Club and offers a testimony in song - He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Needs:



James Pethokoukis describes the event this way:

Sexual harassment scandal? That’s so two hours ago. Republican presidential contender Herman Cain gave a bravura performance at the National Press Club this afternoon where he explained his 9-9-9 plan, dismissed those Politico allegations … and sang a gospel hymn.

In addition to being melodious, Cain was funny and thoroughly at ease in front of a packed room of media. This was a high stakes moment for Team Cain, and their candidate seemed to thrive on it. Is he still fuzzy on policy details, including those of his signature tax plan? Pretty much. But that may not matter to Republican voters who see Cain as an authentically conservative, inspirational figure with a record of private sector achievement.

And singing gospel right in the belly of the Washington beast in front of the hated MSM? For many conservatives, it doesn’t get much better than that. Many political pros don’t take Cain’s polling performance seriously and believe Mitt Romney a virtual lock at this point. But something weird is happening in the GOP race. Cain has caught fire with a post-modern political campaign built on powerful personality, viral videos and a big, bold idea.

On Halloween Eve Herman Cain's Skeleton Comes Out of the Closet

From Politico:

During Herman Cain’s tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, ultimately leaving their jobs at the trade group, multiple sources confirm to POLITICO.

The women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable, the sources said, and they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts to leave the association. The agreements also included language that bars the women from talking about their departures.

In a series of comments over the past 10 days, Cain and his campaign repeatedly declined to respond directly about whether he ever faced allegations of sexual harassment at the restaurant association. They have also declined to address questions about specific reporting confirming that there were financial settlements in two cases in which women leveled complaints.

POLITICO has confirmed the identities of the two female restaurant association employees who complained about Cain but, for privacy concerns, is not publishing their names.

I'm trying to remember when such deference was given to any woman who accused Bill Clinton...or any other Democrat...of such misbehavior? Seems to me the press did their best to discredit those women rather than protect them.

Clearly this won't help his campaign regardless of the validity of the accusation, but in the long run it probably won't matter because Cain was unlikely to win the nomination anyway. However, I would be very interested to know how this information got out and especially which campaign leaked it.

UPDATE:  Cain's spokesman issued this statement:

Inside the Beltway media attacks Cain

Fearing the message of Herman Cain who is shaking up the political landscape in Washington, Inside the Beltway media have begun to launch unsubstantiated personal attacks on Cain.

Dredging up thinly sourced allegations stemming from Mr. Cain’s tenure as the Chief Executive Officer at the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, political trade press are now casting aspersions on his character and spreading rumors that never stood up to the facts.

Since Washington establishment critics haven't had much luck in attacking Mr. Cain's ideas to fix a bad economy and create jobs, they are trying to attack him in any way they can.

Sadly, we’ve seen this movie played out before – a prominent Conservative targeted by liberals simply because they disagree with his politics.

Mr. Cain -- and all Americans, deserve better.

Political Cartoon of the Day

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Perry Goes After Herman Cain on Abortion

It sure would be nice if the GOP candidates could figure out that the enemy is Obama and not each other.  I realize they're trying to win a primary, but giving Democrats talking points is not a path to victory in 2012.

Having said that, Rick Perry decided to go after current frontrunner Herman Cain over Cain's abortion comments from the other day:

Guess whom Rick Perry has turned his attention to? Nope. Not Mitt Romney. Herman Cain. "'It is a liberal canard to say I am personally pro-life, but government should stay out of that decision,' Mr. Perry said, drawing enthusiastic applause from a crowd of social conservative voters. 'If that is your view, you are not pro-life, you are pro-having your cake and eating it too.'" 

I guess Rick Perry wouldn't like me either because I'm also pro-life but think the federal government shouldn't be involved. As I've written before, the biggest problem with the Roe v. Wade decision was not that it legalized abortion but that it federalized an issue that should have been left to the states. I don't think it's hypocritical at all to say you're pro-life but don't want to federalize the issue or use a Constitutional amendment to ban it.  That's a more of a true conservative position than using the heavy hand of government to promote a specific agenda.

The Constitution should not be used to try and solve social disputes. After watching the documentary on Prohibition I'm even more convinced that social issues should be left to the states to sort out for themselves. And then if you don't like what your state has done you can attempt to convince your fellow citizens to change the law or you can move.  Other solutions simply don't work.

Report: Chris Christie Will Endorse Romney Tonight

Herman Cain must be making the GOP establishment pretty nervous if they've got to trot Gov. Chris Christie out to endorse Romney tonight, but that's the report from Fox News. This is only going to make conservatives mad.

The GOP establishment should have learned from 2008 that conservatives will not get excited to turn out and work for RINOs.  Mitt Romney will not inspire conservatives and will likely lose to Obama next year.

ATTN:  Sarah Palin - if you're going to endorse someone who's not Mitt Romney, you better get on it before the GOP establishment sews this whole thing up.  You still have a shot at relevance.

The Debates Are Setting the GOP Field

I never really paid much attention to early primary debates since they feature so many candidates and are usually moderated by liberal journalists who are just trying to trip up Republicans.  However, like it or not, the debates have played a big role in how this GOP campaign has played out.  From Fred Barnes:

Neither fund raising nor the building of grass-roots organizations in key primary states is driving the Republican presidential race. Endorsements haven't mattered much either. Stump speeches have been of minimal importance. And policy papers—such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's 59-point economic plan or ex-Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's proposal for tax rate cuts—have been largely overlooked.

By far the biggest influence on the Republican contest has been the series of nationally televised debates. There have been more debates than ever—six so far—and they have attracted record audiences. The most recent debate on Sept. 22 on Fox News drew more than six million TV viewers, plus another six million watching on streaming video.

The debates have overwhelmed the Republican race. "They are about all there's been to the campaign," says Fox political commentator Brit Hume. After each debate the campaign has been frozen until the next one, except for arguments over issues spawned by the debates themselves.

There's no question that Rick Perry's quick rise in the polls was stopped and reversed by his debate performances, and that's really a shame. People who have known Perry for years and know how he operates as governor say they don't even recognize the guy they see in the debates. Either he's just not good at it, or has not been properly prepared. In addition, he seems to wear out after the first hour or so. All of that adds up to trouble for the Perry campaign.

Herman Cain, who was more or less marginalized in the early debates is now charging up the rankings and will be given a prominent center position at the next event. If he continues knocking it out the way he has, he's going to end up with all the NotRomney vote that looked sure to go to Perry. This next debate will be important.

Opposing Obama is Racist and Apparently So Is Supporting Herman Cain

Jeff Jacoby looks at the race card and how it's being played against black Republican Herman Cain:

THE DAY AFTER Herman Cain's dazzling victory in the Florida straw poll, I commented to a Republican neighbor -- and where I live, there aren't many of those -- that with Cain as a GOP rock star, liberals who have been so ready to smear President Obama's critics as racist would have to come up with a new shtick.

What was I thinking?

Racial McCarthyism has been a staple of left-wing political rhetoric for years, but it went into overdrive with the rise of Barack Obama. Former president Jimmy Carter, for example, claimed that much of the backlash to the president's policies was explained by "the fact that he is a black man." Janeane Garofalo, the movie actress and liberal activist, called Tea Party protesters "racist rednecks" with one motivation: "This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up." Obama himself has sometimes played the race card; as a candidate in 2008 he predicted that Republicans would "try to make you afraid of me" by focusing on his color: "He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?"

Of course such accusations are grotesque canards. But cynics and partisan ideologues have never been terribly squeamish about trafficking in ugly innuendoes to win votes, especially when a complacent media lets them get away with it. Still, you might have thought that surging Republican support for a proud black entrepreneur -- an up-from-segregation business star who summarizes his identity as "ABC: American first, black second, and conservative third" -- would make it tough even for cynics and ideologues to keep singing from the same racial hymnal.

Not a chance.

Read the rest of it. Jacoby goes on to give examples that are already being offered by lefties to support the idea that Cain is just being used to hide Republican racism.

I'm sure there are some political strategists who look at the Cain campaign as a way to finally split the black vote and take some support from Obama. Forget about it. It's not going to happen. Within the black community Cain will be portrayed as an Uncle Tom, someone who isn't "down with the struggle" and who has dared leave the liberal plantation. We saw that just the other day when he was grilled on MSNBC because he hadn't taken part in civil rights marches.

And Al Sharpton is questioning whether Cain is "authentically black", because to qualify under Sharpton's rules you have to believe certain things and that includes the whole liberal orthodoxy.

So, there are lots of good reasons to support Herman Cain's candidacy, but don't do it if you think it's going to relieve any racial tensions, because it's not. It may, in fact, make them worse.

UPDATE:  Cain's appearance today on CNN won't win him any friends in the racial grievance community:

As for African Americans who remain economically disadvantaged, Cain said they often only had themselves to blame.

“They weren't held back because of racism,” Cain said. “People sometimes hold themselves back because they want to use racism as an excuse for them not being able to achieve what they want to achieve.”

Stop Pandering, Mr. Cain

Herman Cain has had a lot of success lately, but if he decides to go into full pander mode, as he did with two stories this weekend, he's toast.

First, he went after Rick Perry on the bogus racist rock story. Matt Lewis responds:

After Sunday’s Washington Post reported that Texas Governor Rick Perry had utilized a Texas hunting camp named “Niggerhead,” GOP candidate Herman Cain (a former pizza exec. and the only black candidate running for the GOP presidential nomination) wasted little time in accusing Perry of being insensitive to racial issues.

“Since Gov. Perry has been going there for years to hunt,” Cain told ABC’s “This Week,” think that it shows a lack of sensitivity for a long time of not taking that word off of that rock and renaming the place.”

When anchor Christiane Amanpour pushed back — noting that the rock had actually been painted over — Cain doubled-down, saying: “But how long ago was it painted over? So I’m still saying that it is a sign of insensitivity.’’

(Cain made similar comments on Fox News Sunday — demonstrating that this was not a gaffe made in response to a question that simply caught him off guard.)

In a prepared release, Perry Campaign Communications Director Ray Sullivan responded to Cain’s attack, saying: “Mr. Cain is wrong about the Perry family’s quick action to eliminate the word on the rock, but is right the word written by others long ago is insensitive and offensive. That is why the Perrys took quick action to cover and obscure it.”

Sullivan reiterated that the rock had been painted and turned over, and that “The Perrys did not own, name or control the property, they simply rented hunting rights to 1,000 acres of the ranch.”

Secondly, after Obama criticized the GOP because one or two idiots in the debate audience booed a gay soldier, suddenly Cain decided he should have been the one to jump to the soldier's defense:

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that he should not have stayed silent after the audience at a GOP debate booed a gay soldier serving in Iraq.

The Georgia businessman told ABC's "This Week" that it would have been "appropriate" for him to have defended the soldier. None of the candidates on stage at the Sept. 22 forum responded to the boos.

"In retrospect, because of the controversy it has created and because of the different interpretations that it could have had, yes, that probably -- that would have been appropriate," Cain said, when asked if he should have asked the audience to respect the soldier.

I'm sorry, but that sounds like a full-blown pander to the media with that response. GOP candidates are not responsible for the fevered reaction of a couple of people in a debate audience, and accepting any sort of responsibility simply plays into their critics' hands.

I have respect for Cain, but I'll quickly lose it if this kind of stuff keeps up.

Political Photo of the Day

This is not an endorsement - I just thought this was kind of funny (seen on Facebook):

Political Quote of the Day

From idiot leftist actress Janeane Garofalo, on why Republicans would support Herman Cain:

"Herman Cain is probably well liked by some of the Republicans because it hides the racist elements of the Republican party. Conservative movement and tea party movement, one in the same.

"People like Karl Rove liked to keep the racism very covert. And so Herman Cain provides this great opportunity say you can say 'Look, this is not a racist, anti-immigrant, anti-female, anti-gay movement. Look we have a black man.'"

This is exactly why a Herman Cain candidacy would not stop the racism talk about the Republican Party. Any opposition to Obama will still be considered racism, even if the Republican candidate is black. He'll be depicted by the mainstream press and Democrats as a token, no matter how genuine the support is for his candidacy.

Racist Tea Partiers Choose Herman Cain in Florida Straw Poll

If Herman Cain won the GOP Florida Straw Poll he must be a lily white Presbyterian, right?  After all, even Morgan Freeman says the Tea Party is racist.  Let me see if I can find a photo of him...

Uh...never mind.

Rick Perry Takes Double Digit Lead in GOP Race

Here are the numbers from Gallup based on the responses of Republicans and Republican-leading independents:

1. Rick Perry - 29%
2. Mitt Romney - 17%
3. Ron Paul - 13%
4. Michele Bachmann - 10%
5. Herman Cain - 4%
6. Newt Gingrich - 4%
7. Rick Santorum - 3%
8. Jon Huntsman - 1%

Looks like that media blitz by Huntsman is really paying off.  From Nathan Wurtzel:

"1% in the polls with a 3% margin of error, so Jon Huntsman may not even exist."

This Is Why Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan Probably Won't Get in the Race

Talk about your quick starts:

Pollster Scott Rasmussen is about to release the first national post-straw poll numbers. The results:

Perry 29, Romney 18, Bachmann 13, Paul 9.

It looks like Rick got out more of a bang out of Iowa and the Battle of Waterloo than Michele did.

This may also start an exodus of other candidates. Do Cain, Gingrich, Santorum, Huntsman or Paul really have ANY serious chance at the nomination? No.

UPDATE:  Here's the link to the actual poll.

Huck's Out, So Who Benefits?

Besides the voters, that is. Katrina Trinko at The Corner has some reactions:

It’s unlikely that Mike Huckabee’s decision to forgo a presidential run will significantly boost any candidate.

“I don’t think anybody gains tremendously from this,” says Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “I can see three or four candidates who can pick off social conservatives or Southerners or blue collar Republicans and Independents. I just don’t see there being a real Huckabee bloc that moves en masse to anybody.”

Sabato thinks that Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Tim Pawlenty are among those who could gain some of the social conservative voters that have backed Mike Huckabee, while southern voters might drift to Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich.

One candidate who might not pick up votes from Huckabee’s decision: Mitt Romney.

“He hates Mitt Romney,” Sabato says. “Given that intense dislike, one has to assume that he will at least make comments hurtful to Romney and maybe endorse one of the other candidates at some point to try to stop Romney, if indeed Romney’s moving forward.”

Craig Robinson, a former political director of the Iowa Republican Party, sees Santorum as gaining the most in Iowa from Huckabee’s decision.

“I would say Bachmann as well, but Bachmann’s not even to an exploratory stage yet, so it’s not like she can rush in there and actively seek out these votes,” Robinson says. “So I think it’s Santorum who’s going to benefit from this.”

Robinson also points out that Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008, could have a “significant” impact on the caucuses again this year if he chooses to endorse a candidate.

I remember hearing  in 2008 about some of the things Romney did to Huckabee from a Huckabee campaign insider, and it wouldn't surprise me a bit if Huck makes it his personal mission to end Romney's campaign.

The First GOP Debate in Review

I think the Daily Caller pretty well sums it up:

Pizza magnate beats actual elected officials in first GOP presidential debate -- If Thursday night's debate in Greenville, South Carolina, is any indication, GOP presidential candidates aren't ready to go bare-knuckle for the presidency. For instance: Given the chance to deliver a crippling gut punch to Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty (a product of meat-packing, in case you didn't hear him the first dozen times) whiffed. "Well, Governor Romney is not here to defend himself so I’m not going to pick on him or the position he took in Massachusetts,” Pawlenty said of his likely competitor's policy predecessor to Obamacare. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the light in every libertarian's eye, answered with word salad when asked about withdrawing from Afghanistan. “I believe that timetable should be tomorrow,” Johnson said, “though I realize that tomorrow may be several months.” Rick Santorum, who lost his Pennsylvania Senate seat in an avalanche in 2006, claimed to know a thing or two about "beating" unbeatable Democratic candidates, although we think he may have meant "losing to." Ron Paul railed against the fed and trial lawyers. Every debate must have a winner and a loser (and also a best in show), and to that end, pizza magnate Herman Cain was declared last night's winner by Frank Luntz's focus group, despite having nothing authoritative to say about the war in Afghanistan. 

There's no reason for the GOP to be debating this early in the cycle. It only gives the Democrats ammunition to use against the potential candidates.