Is Herman Cain getting good advice on his campaign?
Herman Cain's campaign manager Mark Block says the Cain campaign doesn't want the women 鈥� who alleged sexual harassment 鈥� to be allowed to speak.
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain at the Congressional Health Caucus Thought Leaders Series, in Washington on Nov. 2.
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
It鈥檚 fun to be the upstart, unconventional candidate - until you need some professional political help.
Herman Cain鈥檚 campaign has blamed Rick Perry consultant Curt Anderson for 鈥渓eaking鈥� news of sexual harassment allegations against Herman Cain to POLITICO, . (Thought bubble: If you know a fact and you tell somebody about that fact, is that a 鈥渓eak?鈥�)
Unfortunately for Cain, prominent conservative Erick Erickson shoots down the contention that Curt Anderson leaked to POLITICO in rather convincing fashion:
"But the larger problem comes He notes, 鈥淎nderson denying TO POLITICO that he leaked *to* Politico *does* clear him. Unless Politico *wants* to self-destruct. If Politico prints a denial that they KNOW is a lie, they鈥檙e in deep trouble when that gets out.鈥� Regardless of the editorial standards of the Politico, they most likely would not first make an inquiry to Curt Anderson and then run that inquiry by Curt Anderson as a denial if Curt Anderson were the source."
Lest you think Erickson is some shrinking violet, he鈥檚 got no love for the original POLITICO story (鈥渨holly unsubstantiated.鈥�) He also said the media scrutiny of Cain is about bringing him down, demonstrating only that 鈥�.鈥�
With all that said, Cain鈥檚 handling of the matter has taken a body blow and made it an almost mortal wound. Erickson writes:
The problem, of course, is that as this has gone on and the Cain camp has resorted to lashing out at Rick Perry, it is more evident that there is no 鈥渢here鈥� there with regards to Curt Anderson, but that there was a 鈥渢here鈥� there with the Politico story.
And it additionally does not help Herman Cain that his campaign manager went on Fox News and said the campaign would not agree or support the women involved being released from their non-disclosure agreements. The only way for this story to start going away is to let the women speak and judge on the merits what they claim was harassment.
听(奥补迟肠丑 (yeah, ) arguing Cain鈥檚 points on Fox News).
Mark Block saying, in effect, 鈥渘o chance,鈥� not only affirms the 鈥渧ictim鈥� status of the women in the mind of the media, it takes the story to a new level and broadens the scope of the media inquiry.
As Erickson wrote in a previous post, the fact that Anderson was supposedly told about the allegations as a consultant on Cain鈥檚 2004 Georgia Senate campaign raises more questions about Cain than it does about Anderson. To wit:
Herman Cain鈥檚 consultant from 2004 uncovered it in 2004 and Cain launched a Presidential bid in 2011聽without coming up with a damage control plan on a major issue that could destroy his campaign?
Remember when鈥�
- Cain once said he 鈥渇orgot鈥� about the allegations because they were 鈥渞idiculous.鈥� But he didn鈥檛 forget about them in his Senate campaign, as Erickson notes above.
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