Why Herman Cain supporters are sticking with him
| Washington
In the last day or so since the Herman Cain sexual harassment allegations broke, it appears Herman Cain鈥檚 supporters are sticking by their man.
We the reported allegations - and Cain鈥檚 shifting responses - may in the end seriously undercut his core strengths: likability and straight talk. In appearances Monday, Cain went from saying he was 鈥渦naware of any sort of settlement鈥� with the women making the allegations against him, to telling Fox News that, in fact, one such cash settlement had been worth 鈥渕aybe three months鈥� salary,鈥� to telling PBS 鈥淚 was aware that an agreement was reached.鈥� (Interestingly, he he had 鈥渘o recollection鈥� of asking either of those women to meet him in a hotel room - rather than denying outright that such a request had been made).
But it鈥檚 also clear Cain has a few things going for him in all this. As we noted Monday, the accusations so far have been anonymous (and may remain so, since the two women allegedly involved signed non-disclosure agreements, according to POLITICO).
And so far, the conservative base seems to be - treating the matter as an outrageous smear campaign ginned up by a political opponent and/or the liberal media establishment.
Along those lines, one of the comes from The Des Moines Register - which just this weekend had showing Cain leading the GOP field in the Hawkeye State.
The Register contacted more than 20 of the poll鈥檚 Republican respondents for follow-up interviews in the wake of the Cain scandal - and found that none of them said the allegations would cause them to reject Cain as a potential pick. Here鈥檚 one of the responses they got:
"Poll respondent Rick Hall, a Des Moines accountant, said, 鈥淯nless it rolls into something undeniably very bad at his core, it will have no effect on my feeling about Mr. Cain as far as a viable candidate. It happened far enough ago, I鈥檓 not surprised that this thing wouldn鈥檛 follow many highly placed corporate officers.鈥�
Along with this:
Renfred Miller, a 27-year-old West Des Moines resident who works in sales, said it would have been nice to hear about the situation from Cain first, 鈥渂ut obviously he thought it was baseless and didn鈥檛 matter.鈥�
And this:
After witnessing costly regulations on farms and at the local feed mill, Adam Cook, 25, an agronomist from Ellsworth, still likes Cain best, partly because he wants to do away with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 鈥淚鈥檓 not really worried about it,鈥� Cook said of the sexual harassment allegations.
And then there鈥檚 this: Cain鈥檚 campaign - one of the campaign鈥檚 best fundraising days ever.
Of course, it鈥檚 still early. It usually takes a while for the true impact of stories like this to become evident. And if more information emerges that seems to contradict Cain鈥檚 version of events, his supporters may change their minds.
But at least for now, it appears they鈥檙e inclined to stick with him.
Dig a little deeper:
- Look up to see when he鈥檒l be in a location near you.
- Read the that broke the news.
Like your politics unscrambled? Check out .
