One of Cain’s accusers speaks out, says feel vindicated

Chicago Trib:

A Chicago area woman who claimed she was groped by former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain said today she feels "vindication" by Cain's decision to suspend his campaign.

Now all the talk is whether Cain will endorse Gingrich and/or whether his supporters will naturally flow to Newt. From NPR:

One likely recipient of that endorsement: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Like Cain before him, Gingrich is trying to establish himself as the conservative alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. And Cain and Gingrich share a long history of mutual admiration.

And like Cain, Gingrich has his own multiple women problems, so if someone is willing to stick with Cain after all this, they're probably not too phased by Newt's multiple affairs and multiple marriages. Read More......

Women for Cain; 'Husbandless' Accusers

Hey women of the Internet, there's a new site where you can get your troll on: Women for Herman Cain.

Via TPM:

While Herman Cain weighs whether to stay in the race after being accused of carrying on a decade-plus affair, the campaign is looking to repair the damage his various alleged improprieties have caused with women supporters. His website just went live with a new “Women For Cain” section where female supporters can share their stories —and slam his accusers as “vindictive,” “jealous,” “unstable,” and “husbandless.”
...
The real prize, however, is a section — which appears to be curated by the campaign — featuring female supporters’ personal testimonials, many of which are brutal attacks against the women who have accused Cain of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and
infidelity.

I'd love to see the testimonials that don't make the cut on the website, which sadly I don't think will be around much longer. According to CNN Cain is meeting with his wife today to discuss his future in the race. I'm guessing he drops out officially by Monday. Read More......

Herman Cain vs Reality

Herman Cain is no longer the frontrunner, but thankfully for America (and my own amusement) the Herman Cain campaign rolls on. In his most recent mailer to Iowa voters, Cain makes an interesting claim:

In a new Iowa mailer, Herman Cain says he believes he will be the 2012 GOP nominee because he’s a descendant of slaves who can garner a large share of the black vote, he didn’t inherit a dime, he has traveled the globe for years, and he’s a believer in Jesus Christ.

“The news media and the Republican establishment are stunned!” says the first line of the seven-page mailer. “I am now the front runner in the race for the Republican Presidential campaign and the highly regarded Rasmussen poll shows me defeating President Obama.”

A novel idea but sadly for Cain the most recent polling suggests otherwise:

But while Cain might believe he'll garner a larger share of the black vote in a head-to-head match-up against President Obama, this month's NBC/WSJ poll — which had an oversample of 400 African-American respondents — tells a different story.

In a hypothetical general election matchup, according to the poll, Obama gets support from 93 percent of African Americans, while Cain gets just 6 percent.

Against Romney, Obama performs similarly among black voters. Ninety-two percent of African Americans would support Obama, versus just six percent for Romney. According to the 2008 exit polls, Obama got 95 percent of the African American vote.

RIP Cain Campaign. Your few weeks in the spotlight made for some of my favorite moments this cycle. Read More......

Melber: 4 signs Herman Cain is not really running

Writing at The Nation, Ari Melber has a piece that looks at the big, bold signs which say that despite polling at the top of the Republican field, Herman Cain isn't actually running a real presidential campaign. The short version is:

1. Cain hasn't had a presence in Iowa
2. Cain doesn't have a noticeable field program in any other state, either
3. Cain is effectively running "the World's Most Expensive Book Tour," using his candidacy to promote his book, not the other way around
4. Cain is still giving paid speeches

Despite this, Cain sits atop most polls.

This is really a question of who or what makes people vote for a candidate. Conventional Wisdom says that the most effective field operations can add at most about 3% to a politician's vote total. That's a pretty huge amount and field operations are the bread and butter of successful primary efforts.

While Cain may not be running a traditional field campaign, he's spent a ton of time doing TV interviews and his campaign has bought a lot of online ads, especially around their response to the alleged incidents of sexual harassment. Cain may be able to talk to voters through the media and internet, without having representatives in the field to make the case for him to voters in person. The only thing which says that this won't work is history.

I agree with Melber that there are real questions to how Cain is running his campaign, questions which fundamentally challenge the seriousness of his campaign. But anyone who can sit at the top of the polls despite more people accusing him of sexual harassment than supported Tim Pawlenty for President is surely going to demand serious treatment for as long as he polls well. That might eventually evolve into Cain creating a field infrastructure, focusing solely on running for President, and caring more about editorial board meetings than book reviews. But even if it doesn't, the only actual way to assess whether Cain's methods are signs of a lack of commitment to running for President will be when Republican voters go to caucus and vote in early 2012. Read More......

Cain scrubbed his website for any comparisons between VAT and the 999 plan

Conservatives love the the flat tax but Cain's crazy 999 plan resembles a VAT consumption tax. In a fury to cover his right flank on the 999 plan, the Cain campaign has apparently gone out of its way to scrub any references to VAT and from his website.

The scoring document for Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan — along with references to a value added tax (VAT) — are missing from the campaign’s website. And links to the plan from critical articles written in recent weeks no longer work. For example, writing in the New York Times on October 11, Bruce Bartlett critiqued Cain’s plan, writing, “… attention is being drawn to his platform, especially what he calls the 9-9-9 tax plan.” But clicking on that link today, sends the reader to an error page which says: “Like an Obama policy, this 404 page gets you nowhere.” It used to go here: http://www.hermancain.com/images/economicgrowth.pdf Also broken is this: http://www.hermancain.com/docs/999_Scoring_Tables.pdf

Read More......

Herman Cain tells a joke about Anita Hill

Photo by Christopher
Halloran / Shutterstock

Because any top campaign adviser will tell you, there's nothing funnier to the voters than men who prey on women.

In all seriousness, this does raise a question about Cain's judgment.  Rick Perry's memory gaffe, in terms of how he handled it (by fidgeting and finally, simply, saying "oops"), suggests that Perry doesn't think very well on his feet (and that his convictions are pre-canned, otherwise he'd have known the third agency he wanted to dismantle, had he truly wanted to dismantle it).

Along the same lines, Herman Cain's insistence on joking about women (he referred to former Speaker Pelosi as "Princess Nancy" during the GOP debates the other night) while facing multiple sexual harassment (including one sexual assault) allegations suggests that Cain neither understands the gravity of the charges, nor the gravity of his current situation (i.e., regardless of his guilt or innocence, you don't make jokes about women, and about Anita Hill, no less, when you're running for president and trying to clamp down a scandal about women).  It suggests a certain intellectual, and perhaps even moral, un-seriousness to Mr. Cain generally, and to his candidacy in particular.

And while an aloofness about the mistreatment of women might win him admiration from a large swath of GOP primary voters, it's doubtful independents will look as kindly on it, and him, during the general election, were he to become the GOP nominee. Read More......

Cain was married with kids during alleged 1999 incident

Over at AMERICAblog (aka the Mother Ship), John Aravosis notes that Herman Cain was married with two kids in 1999 when he allegedly inappropriately touched Sharon Bialek. Aravosis notes:

I haven't seen anyone mention that fact yet. In all fairness, if we're going to talk about the hypocrisy of Newt Gingrich having multiple adulterous relationships while running to the right of his party, then Herman Cain should get the same scrutiny. And he very likely may get that scrutiny from religious right primary voters he's been wooing, and who are already sketchy on him because of his apparent pro-choice views on abortion and his shifting views on gay rights.

Read More......

Cain accuser: "He suddenly... put his hand on my leg, under my skirt, and reached for my genitals"

Wow:

He suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt, and reached for my genitals. He also grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch.

I said, what are you doing, you know I have a boyfriend, this isn't what I came here for.

Mr. Cain said, you want a job right?

More from Political Wire. Read More......

The quotable Herman Cain

Ben Smith has some good snippets of memorable, Yogi Berra-esque quotes. A few of my favorites

1. "I'm supposed to have a minute to disagree with something [Gingrich] said, but I don't."
...
5. "The nit-pickiness of the media. It is the actions and behavior of the media that have been the biggest surprise. There are too many people in the media who are downright dishonest."
....
6. When asked about a defined benefits plan for Medicare: "A defined..? You go first, Newt."

I think there is something funny and likable about Herman Cain, just not in the, "Boy, I'd really like this guy to be President" sort of way. It's more of, "Boy, this guy is a notch below Jimmy McMillan and he's leading the Republican primary field!" Read More......

Poll: Iowans have no clue what Cain's 999 plan does to them

It's either that or a middle class family in Iowa wants to pay a few thousand dollars more in taxes while the rich get a big tax break. It's one of the frustrating things about Republican campaign that has become all about personalities and scandals. The details about the impact of Cain's plan will come out in the Republican primary, I can't imagine what'll happen to Cain's numbers then.

Research-group reviews of the plan have found that most families making $100,000 or less would pay thousands of dollars more each year. “The larger point is that people don’t really understand what the 9-9-9 plan actually is, and they’re assuming incorrectly that they may not pay one or any of these taxes,” said Joe Rosenberg, a research associate for the Tax Policy Center, a group based in Washington, D.C., that bills itself as a nonpartisan economic research institute.

Read More......

Herman Cain campaign operation may breach federal campaign and tax laws

Were it not for everything else going badly for Herman Cain today, this would probably be a bigger story. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice reports that a corporation set up by Cain campaign staffers (Internet celebrity Mark Block and Deputy Chief of Staff Linda Hansen) originally footed the bill for "tens of thousands of dollars in expenses."

Check it:

Internal financial records obtained by No Quarter show that Prosperity USA said it was owed about $40,000 by the Cain campaign for a variety of items in February and March. Cain began taking donations for his presidential bid on Jan. 1.
...

It is not known if Cain's election fund eventually paid back Prosperity USA, which now appears defunct. The candidate's federal election filings make no mention of the debt, and the figures in the documents don't match payments made by the candidate's campaign.

In addition to picking up these expenses at least initially, Prosperity USA also paid as much as $100,000 to the Congress of Racial Equality, a conservative black organization, shortly before Cain was a featured speaker at the group's annual Martin Luther King Jr. dinner in mid-January.

The article is chock full of quotes from alarmed lawyers and election types who were shocked at this set up, and have plenty to say on how it won't pass muster (I'm as shocked as you are about this.)

Election law experts say the transactions raise a host of questions for the private organization, which billed itself as a tax-exempt nonprofit, and the Cain team.

"If the records accurately reflect what occurred, this is way out of bounds," said a Washington, D.C.-based election lawyer who advises many Republican candidates and conservative groups on campaign issues. The lawyer asked not to be identified because of those affiliations.

Michael Maistelman, a Wisconsin campaign attorney, agreed.

"The number of questionable and possibly illegal transactions conducted on behalf of Herman Cain is staggering," said Maistelman, a Democrat who has represented politicians from both parties on campaign issues.

But even more entertaining are some of the items this corporate-campaign hybrid paid for including:

• $5,000 for "costs associated with" Cain's speech at Right Nation
• Mark Block traveling to DC to meet with everyone's favorite right wing billionaire David Koch
• A payment to singer Krista Branch who recorded 'I Am America' for the Cain campaign
• "$150,000 in loans from individuals who could not be identified."

Bice also points out that Mark Block has a history of creative campaign accounting, once such instance which led to him being banned from campaign work in Wisconsin for three years. Read More......

Politico: Two Women who worked for Cain accused him of sexual harassment in the 1990's

Politico has a story tonight about allegations of sexual harassment against Hermann Cain from two women who worked under him while he ran the National Restaurant Associations.

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 the Politico story Cain stops short of denying the allegations.

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon told POLITICO the candidate indicated to campaign officials that he was “vaguely familiar” with the charges and that the restaurant association’s general counsel had resolved the matter. The latest statement came from Cain himself. In a tense sidewalk encounter Sunday morning outside the Washington bureau of CBS News — where the Republican contender had just completed an interview on “Face the Nation” — Cain evaded a series of questions about sexual harassment allegations. Cain said he has “had thousands of people working for me” at different businesses over the years and could not comment “until I see some facts or some concrete evidence.” His campaign staff was given the name of one woman who complained last week, and it was repeated to Cain on Sunday. He responded, “I am not going to comment on that.”

On Twitter and in a statement to the right-wing Washington Examiner, Cain seems to compare himself to Clarence Thomas.

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.

The accusation seem like a pretty serious blow to Cain. Read More......

Poll: Cain and Romney tied in Iowa

Can you feel the Cain-mentum?

Via the Des Moines Register:

Cain has surged 13 percentage points since the first Iowa Poll of the caucus cycle, conducted in late June. His rise has come despite spending little time in Iowa recently, campaigning here just once since the Aug. 13 Iowa straw poll, where he placed fifth.

Likewise, Romney has campaigned in Iowa just three times this year, but he retains a core network of supporters from his near-constant presence in the state during his first presidential bid four years ago.

Apparently the less time GOP actually candidates spend in Iowa, the more Iowans like them.

H/T Daily Kos' Adam B who also posts results from the same poll four years ago at this time. Read More......

Herman Cain is anti-choice again (for now anyway)

Hey remember last week when GOP frontrunner Herman Cain was pro-choice? Me too. You know who apparently doesn't remember that? Herman Cain. Yesterday Cain went back to being firmly in the anti-choice camp.

From CNN:

"I am pro-life, and believe in advancing the culture of life. My record as a pro-life candidate speaks for itself," Cain said in a statement. "Anyone who says differently is simply not telling the truth. Next question."

And this is where it gets awkward. Herman Cain is calling himself a liar. Right wingers who like to quibble about this sort of thing probably aren't going to be placated by his latest stance, especially since the same article points out that his campaign staff gave a slightly varied answer about exceptions for rape and incest.

Perhaps another quirky Internet ad from the Cain camp will distract them. Read More......

Quotable Herman Cain

Via MSNBC:

“Relative to foreign policy, I don’t need to know the details of every one of the issues we face.

"We’ve got plenty of experts who can fill in the details,”

Herman Cain: Because that kind of attitude about foreign policy served us so well previously. (See: Bush, George W.) Read More......

Better Know an Internet Celebrity: Mark Block

Mark Block, Herman Cain's Chief of Staff/CEO is Internet famous today thanks to this fantastic campaign ad. But this isn't Mark Block's first time around the block. His career in politics has had some interesting peaks and valleys most notably being banned from working in WI state campaigns as staff or a consultant for three years.
Via Wisconsin Democracy Campaign:

Block instigated a scheme to illegally funnel money into the 1997 reelection campaign of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Jon Wilcox from wealthy, out-of-state backers of Milwaukee’s school voucher program. Block, who was Wilcox’s campaign manager, was later fined $15,000 and banned from consulting and working for state campaigns until 2004.

For more on this colorful incident in Block's political career be sure to check out these posts from Wisconsin bloggers: Illusory Tenant and Xoff. Read More......

Latest polling shows Cain ahead of Romney

Via Jed Lewison, the latest CBS/NYT poll shows Herman Cain and Mitt Romney still at the top of the Republican field.

CBS/NYT. 10/19-24. Republican primary voters. ±5%.

Cain: 25
Romney: 21
Gingrich: 10
Paul: 8
Perry: 6
Bachmann: <2
Huntsman: <2
Santorum: <2

As we've seen recently, there is a Gingrich boomlet happening underneath the Cain boomlet. It's not really been talked about much, but Gingrich has passed Perry in national polling with some regularity. What's particularly remarkable is that Perry seems to be taking on the same sort of role as we saw with Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman: treated by the press as the main rival to Romney, but not having the polling standing to back that up. In contrast with the other two, Perry actually has a lot of money, so I won't go so far as to say he has no standing to be considered a viable opponent to Romney. At the same time, he was greeted by a boomlet of support that quickly dissipated after a series of awful debate performances and unpopular policy positions. Read More......

Herman Cain is Pro-Choice

ICYMI Herman Cain, of Sim City 999 and #HermanCainPizzaJams fame, has come out as pro-choice. He even uses the word choice when explaining his stance.
Via TPM. Emphasis mine:

Last night on CNN’s Piers Morgan tonight, Cain again said “under no circumstances” does he support abortion. But when pressed on the rape or incest exception, he changed his mind: “It’s not the government’s role, or anybody else’s role, to make that decision…it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make. Not me as president.” He said as president, he could still hold this opinion without “it being a directive to the nation.”

You will be shocked to learn that the right wing wasn't too happy about Cain's position. Cain responded to pushback with an attempt to clarify: "Look, abortion should not be legal, that is clear, but if that family made a decision to break the law, that is that family’s decision, that’s all I’m trying to say."

Yeah that answer isn't confusing at all... Read More......

Cain campaign drops $100K on Herman Cain Inc.

TPM does some digging and finds this bit of awesomeness in Herman Cain's last couple of FEC reports.  The Cain campaign spent $100,000 on the company to promote Herman Cain's books and personal appearances, aptly named for Herman Cain.

In the Federal Election Commission (FEC) report  his campaign filed in July, Cain’s team reported sending $50,831.35 to T.H.E. New Voice. The expenditures listed included “booklets” and “books” (presumably copies of the handful of short pamphlet-like books available for sale at THE New Voice website along with Cain’s new full-length book, This Is Herman Cain!, published by a division of Simon and Schuster), along with items such as “overnight”, “lodging”, “ground transportation” and “air fare.”

Around the time the campaign filed its latest FEC report which was due Oct. 15, the campaignrevised its old report and listed two expenses that went to THE New Voice: $36,511.20 for “books” and a separate $50,011.35 expense listed as “See Below,” indicating the money went to “books” as well. An amended report is meant to replace an original report, meaning the money the campaign first said they spent on “overnight”, “lodging”, “ground transportation” and “air fare,” is now simply listed as “books.”

In Cain’s Oct. 15 report — the latest from the surging Republican — the campaign listed $14,425.91 more going to THE New Voice for “event supplies.”

Herman Cain isn't the first Republican to raise questions as to whether his campaign or PAC is a front for personal business interests.  Gingrich and Palin are two recent examples that come to mind.  What boggles my mind is how they don't even attempt to hide it anymore.

And remember folks, according to the latest PPP poll, Herman Cain is the front runner. Read More......

Herman Cain is Reticulating Splines

Hilarious find from HuffPo's Amanda Terkel:

WASHINGTON -- In Herman Cain's America, the tax code would be very, very simple: The corporate income tax rate would be 9 percent, the personal income tax rate would be 9 percent and the national sales tax rate would be 9 percent.

But there's already a 999 plan out there, in a land called SimCity.

Long before Cain was running for president and getting attention for his 999 plan, the residents of SimCity 4 -- which was released in 2003 -- were living under a system where the default tax rate was 9 percent for commercial taxes, 9 percent for industrial taxes and 9 percent for residential taxes. (That is, of course, if you didn't use the cheat codes to get unlimited money and avoid taxes altogether.)

Just a friendly reminder about the current state of the GOP base, the latest PPP poll has Cain in the lead. Read More......