One week can change everything in an election. For Herman Cain, it’s more like half a week.
Herman Cain has been accused of sexually harassing by 3 women this week, stemming from incidents that occurred in the 1990s when Cain and the women were working at the National Restaurant Association. The Cain campaign has not denied that there were accusations made, but they stand firm in their statements that Cain has never sexually harassed anyone.
His accusers say otherwise. The three women claim Cain made sexually explicit comments and suggestions towards them, even inviting one of them to visit his apartment.
We’ve been down this road before. Politicians accused of immoral and improper sexual acts is nothing new. Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Anthony Weiner, and now Herman Cain’s name has been added to this infamous list. Like those accused of sexual misbehavior before him, Cain quickly went out of his way to defend himself and call out his haters. He called out Rick Perry, claiming it was his campaign that leaked the sexual harassment information. Rick Perry’s people said it was Mick Romney’s people.
Is there any truth in these accusations? Well, the New York Times reported today that one of the women accusing Cain settled on an agreement of $35,000 back in the 1990s- a full year’s pay to compensate her for her trouble. Surely, someone wouldn’t be paid that much if the story didn’t have some kind of truth in it.
And so begins the fall of the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO’s bid for presidency. In recent weeks, Cain has become a punchline for pundits and talk shows hosts everywhere. His debacle in trying to define and defend his flip flopping stance on abortion went horribly. He is clueless on foreign policy- he recently said that China has “indicated that they’re trying to develop nuclear capability”, even though China has had a nuclear arsenal since 1964.
When Herman Cain built a slight lead over Mitt Romney and Rick Perry as the GOP frontrunner, it was his race to lose. Now, it seems the walls are caving in on Cain. His image is tarnished, his political positions are shaky at best, and worst of all he has not connected with the African-American people. Many were turned off by his “brainwashed” comment.
It was just last month that Herman Cain had finally established himself as a serious contender in the Republican presidential candidate race. Now, it appears to have gone up in smoke. Wow, it was all good just a week ago.
Michael Livingston
HBCU Buzz Editor-in-Chief
