Basically, the entire Washington media could have collectively called in sick all week, and it wouldn’t have made a difference – at least not for 70 percent of Republicans. The latest Washington Post/ABC poll, one of the first to be taken post-scandal, reports:
Seven in 10 Republicans say reports that [Herman] Cain made unwanted advances toward two employees when he was head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s–allegations which have been stiffly rebutted by Cain’s campaign–do not matter when it comes to picking a candidate. …
The poll was conducted Oct. 31 through Nov. 3, starting the evening after Politico first reported the harassment allegations. Support for Cain was basically steady over the four nights of interviewing, even as new charges against him surfaced.
Cain and Mitt Romney are now neck-and-neck, at 23 percent and 24 percent respectively. WaPo notes there’s no telling whether Cain’s support would be even higher at this point if it were not for the scandal, but clearly it hasn’t changed the minds of his current supporters.
This initially seemed surprising, but maybe it shouldn’t have been. With the long history of unfounded smears against Republicans, there’s good reason for many of them to be distrustful of the media. And few concrete details of the allegations have been released so far, making it impossible to know what Cain actually did.
The National Restaurant Association said it would make its decision today on whether one of the accusers could release a statement on her harassment allegations. When more details emerge – it’s only a matter of time – we’ll be able to get a clearer picture of whether this scandal will hurt Cain with voters.
just have to wait for Gingrich-Cain debate this weekend, and the inevitable pile-on at the Nov 9 debate or the Nov 15 debate on foreign policy…hopefully the GOP who answer polls after that will finally understand how much damage Mr. Cain is doing to the GOP image. nI agree with Santorum – Cain's real problem is with his "I don't know" and "I don't care" policy reponses. n n
Herman Cain said this is all about race.. and he is right. He only sexually harasses white women. He respects black women and married one. White men should be embarrassed how they sell out their mothers and daughters while Cain fund-raises off their harassment.
"made unwanted advances" – What does that mean? If they'd said "yes" it would have been OK? Seriously. Think about it. Is the key whether the woman says yes or not? n nOne reason some people are not eager to tar and feather Cain is the lack of clear definition (outside of a court room) what Sexual Harassment means. We have virtually no details about the accusations made back then other than the recurrent use of the term "Sexual Harassment" – but much worse than that – we are handling this all in the "court of public opinion", where the media is much, much stronger and where people can twist and distort the meaning of the term endlessly in order to keep the stories pumping out day after day and aired hour after hour on cable news.
I want a truthful man to be our leader. Why should we except anything less. We have seen what Obama told us and then how he has lied to us so why put another liar in the office. I know what you will think they all lie.. Well I am a woman and I want to see a man in office who does not commit sexual offences toward women and conceal them and pay them off so they will go away. Why didn`t he fight the allegations and end all speculations. If he was truely innocent he would do that. n
This is all bogus b.s. meant to tear down a good man! Dirty politics at the highest level. I hope Mr. Cain survives it, and this conversation ends this wknd!