I honestly don't know what's going on right now with Herman Cain's campaign and the allegations against him of sexual harassment. As I said a few days ago, his accusers haven't produced a single shred of firm, concrete evidence - the kind that could be admitted in a court of law - to substantiate their claims; and there are several highly suspicious circumstances that call their credibility into question.
However, Cain has handled the entire matter extremely badly, as have the members of his campaign team. As Pejman Yousefzadeh points out:
Can we agree that the Herman Cain sexual harassment fiasco is exactly the kind of catastrophe that is bound to visit a campaign that is ridiculously disorganized, and a candidate that is clearly not savvy about running for political office? I don’t even care at this point whether the charges are accurate; even if we assume that they are not, Cain’s habit of shifting his story in addressing the accusations, his campaign’s treatment of reporters asking questions about the charges, and now, the wild claims that other campaigns are behind the attacks, offered with little supporting evidence, show the Cain campaign in a very bad light, and show that the candidate himself is confused, desperate, and entirely on the defensive. No one should have any confidence whatsoever in Cain’s ability to survive a fall election campaign against a battle-hardened Obama team (and incidentally, let there be no doubt whatsoever that the Obama people are loving what is happening to Cain, and the havoc it is wreaking on the Republican field in general, as the Perry and the Romney campaigns are now getting caught up in this story).
There's more at the link, as well as in another of his blog articles.
As I've said before, until now I've been neither for nor against Herman Cain; he's simply one of a number of Republican candidates for that party's nomination for President in the 2012 elections. However, I have to agree with Mr. Yousefzadeh; Cain's campaign has portrayed itself throughout this crisis as 'ridiculously disorganized', and his own reactions and justifications have indeed indicated that he is 'confused, desperate, and entirely on the defensive'. I'm not impressed.
I think Mr. Cain's candidacy is doomed at this point, not necessarily by the allegations against him (which I agree remain unproven and highly suspicious in many ways), but by his own demonstrated incompetence, and that of his campaign, in addressing them and dealing with the matter. Heaven knows, I don't want either Mitt Romney or Rick Perry to gain the nomination (I can't and won't support either of them), but Herman Cain can no longer be considered a meaningful alternative to either candidate. I hope he has the sense to clear the way for someone better qualified to step up to the plate.
Peter
I believe Mr. Cain's campaign is not only disorganized, but there is something naive about his attitude. When asked about his grasp of foreign politics he admitted his ignorance, but said he would learn. Yes, it was an honest answer, but probably not a good one. We currently have someone in the White House whose grasp of foreign policy was also lacking, and there were many missteps while Mr. Obama was learning, much to our discomfort. There are things going on in the world currently which have to be dealt with NOW, not later, after Mr. Cain learns his way around. I wish he had been better prepared for this election.
ReplyDeleteThe sad part, for me, is that Mr. Cain has been a very successful executive. He has a proven track record of success in running businesses and maintaining economic viability. What he isn't, is a politician.
ReplyDeleteBy contrast, our current President is an extremely capable politician, but seems incapable of running a country and maintaining any sort of viable economy.
Which sorta begs the question, which do we need: a good campaigner or a good CEO?
MichigammeDave
I agree, Cain is not fit to govern, so may I suggest taking a much better look at Ron Paul and talk to the people in his district to see what they have to say.
ReplyDeleteThere are many deeply held beliefs about this man that simple are not true and he has been unjustly smeered by the media.
I wish Gary Johnson's campaign had gotten off the ground...
ReplyDelete^ Mikael.
ReplyDeleteThere is no one currently running for the Republican nomination, that I see as having a viable chance, that I would be any more comfortable with than Obama.
IMO, all these comments spell out in plain English why Conservative Republicans never win or always struggle to get whatever they do win. Conservatives voters are always quick to condemn and dump any candidate who shows any sign of weakness or misstep. They always whine and pine for some perfect candidate, a mythical Ronald Reagan that never existed in reality.
ReplyDeleteThe first primary is still 2 months away and the posters above have already dismissed all the candidates.
I would remind you that Obama and his expert campaigns have screwed up repeatedly and made all the same mistakes and quite a bit more. The only difference is the media hasn't highlighted it. Obama is NOT the great candidate some seem to think and he has become highly unpopular.
MechAg94