Is Herman Cain running a zombie candidacy? (VIDEO)
Ginger White鈥檚 allegation of a 13-year affair appears to have buried whatever chance of victory Herman Cain had. But some polls say his candidacy was already dead.
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain speaks during his first stop of an Ohio bus tour at the Cincinnati Marriott North in West Chester, Ohio, Wednesday. Cain claimed Wednesday that he has experienced a "groundswell of positive support" from backers who are ignoring the most recent charge of a 13-year extramarital affair.
Tony Jones/AP
Herman Cain says he鈥檒l decide whether to quit the presidential race within the next few days. But let鈥檚 be frank: hasn鈥檛 the presidential race already quit him?
Ginger White鈥檚 allegation of a 13-year affair appears to have buried whatever chance of victory Mr. Cain had. Fairly or not, his candidacy has become what you might call zombie-like. He鈥檚 still moving forward, but there鈥檚 not much vitality left in his campaign.
His numbers now are brutal. At time of writing, Intrade, the presidential predictions market, listed Cain鈥檚 chance of winning the GOP nod as . To put that in context, Ron Paul had a 5.3 percent chance 鈥� a figure nine times larger than that of the ex-Godfather's Pizza CEO.
Look at the latest state polls: in , a former Cain stronghold, he鈥檚 now down to around 19 percent, according to RealClearPolitics鈥� rolling average. That鈥檚 a drop of five percentage points this week. He鈥檚 gone from 19 to 15 percent in in a matter of days. He鈥檚 at 7 percent in , representing another five point plunge. He鈥檚 lost six points in , down to about 17 percent.
In terms of position, he鈥檚 third or fourth in all these states, and fading fast. Many polls were wrapped up in the middle of the week, and probably don鈥檛 yet reflect his full loss of support. Is that Michele Bachmann Cain sees approaching in his rear-view mirror?
Here鈥檚 what conservative Fox News pundit Bill O鈥橰eilly had to say about Cain last night: 鈥淚t appears that Herman Cain will the Republican nomination for President. In order to beat his competition Cain could not afford to make any missteps, but obviously he had them聽... I think Cain is a good man and I hope the rest of his life is peaceful."
Ouch. Peaceful? Rest of his life? That鈥檚 like saying, 鈥淒on鈥檛 let the door of the green room hit you on your way out.鈥� Or worse, R.I.P.
Over the last day or so, Cain has sounded like someone gradually coming to grips with the depth of at least his electoral problems. He鈥檚 said he鈥檚 still reassessing and won鈥檛 make a full decision until he sees his wife Friday. Apparently he has not met her in person since Ginger White鈥檚 allegations became public.
It鈥檚 possible he鈥檒l plow ahead 鈥� he鈥檚 been nothing if not unpredictable. But by placing such importance on his family meeting, he鈥檚 laying the foundation for saying he鈥檚 pulling out because the whole thing is just too big a strain on his spouse.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not hard to imagine Cain coming out soon after that meeting to say he is , not because the allegations against him are true, but because the media (always a convenient scapegoat) has made life miserable for his wife by propagating falsehoods,鈥� wrote Washington Post political analyst Chris Cillizza today on his blog The Fix.
Such an approach might allow Cain to preserve his viability as a talk show host or news commentator, noted Mr. Cillizza. He鈥檇 also avoid having to answer continued press questions about the allegations of Ms. White and the women who accused him of sexual harassment in the past.
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