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The worst thing anyone could do is falsely accuse someone of … working for Politico

The worst thing anyone could do is falsely accuse someone of … working for Politico

So many conservative blogs and Twitterers are joining in the hysteria directed at the Cain campaign because campaign manager Mark Block erroneously stated last night that the son of accuser Sharon Kraushaar works at Politico.  I heard it when he said it on the Hannity show, but it turns out that the person Block was referring to has the same last name but is not her son and does not work at Politico anymore.

Sloppy move by the Cain campaign, another misstep among many the past 10 days.  Much like the unsupported blame-game (Perry, Rahm, the Democratic Machine) it makes Cain look amateurish.  But did it really warrant the hyper-reaction?

Robert Stacy McCain is right that joining in the contrived hysteria directed at the Cain campaign is damaging to whomever the nominee ends up being:

Weakness is not an attractive quality, in politics or anything else, and it is an error in political combat to worry about making the “smart” argument when what is needed is a winning argument, or at least a gesture of solidarity and a show of force that lets our opponents understand that we’re not a bunch of gutless weaklings.

McCain links to a post by Dr. Helen Smith which I meant to link to but was, er, distracted, Conservatives: Don’t Play into Alinsky’s Hands.  Referring to a post by Andrew Klavan insisting that it is just, right and proper to hold Cain to a higher standard than Democrats hold themselves, Dr. Smith writes:

Bullshit. What Klavan is advocating is political suicide. He might as well have taken his playbook from Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals where Alinsky’s fourth rule is “Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. You can kill them with this…”

Yes, we should have standards and those standards should be higher than Democrats set for themselves.  But those standards do not mean we have to join in every petty overwrought hyper-ventilated reaction from the left-blogosphere against one of our candidates.

And for all the not-liberal bloggers out there who joined in, don’t worry, your candidate will get his in turn.

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Comments

MaggotAtBroadAndWall | November 9, 2011 at 4:58 pm

I don’t see how this site can possibly be officially associated with the candidate, but if it is, man…this is the mother of all unforced errors:

http://hermancainpac.com/2011/11/herman-cain-accuser-karen-kraushaar-works-for-obama-and-she%E2%80%99s-ugly/

Exactly. Ann Coulter with a reminder:http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47438

Run away from candidates at the first smears of these jackals and you can be sure they’ll pull this on every candidate.

Mark Block is not just amateurish or inept. He’s a clown — a caricature of a campaign consultant. How does a serious candidate continue to employ a clown?

The Cain “campaign” has become a circus due not to the claims as much as to its own stupid unforcec errors and weasly attempts at lying and blaming.

I recognize that it is infuriating on many levels that the media are thrilled to pile on Cain, but media conduct is not the issue; Cain’s conduct is.

It doesn’t make sense that this story, true or not, was generated by sources working in one form or fashion for Obama, probably through his cutout David Axelrod, the King of Astroturf. It’s premature. Unless the Obama campaign is calculating a Cain nomination as the worst news in the world. That doesn’t seem likely. But Obama and his people are ruthless enough to do this to every Republican running. So even though it doesn’t make sense I think the Obama campaign is doing it.

I have been dismayed that the Cain campaign has been pointing fingers when they had no proof. This is simply irresponsible and very much like what the Obama administration has done to Bush for the last 3 years.

I was concerned yesterday when Cain made the remark about the “Democrat machine.” But then I realized was he referring to Allred as a Democrat operative? I just wish he had said simply that because THAT much was true.

The Cain campaign is in disarray though. It really isn’t fair that none of this can actually be proven. If he survives, he needs some pros in there.

BannedbytheGuardian | November 9, 2011 at 5:40 pm

Is there a level lower than Amateur?

Yes -in this case stupidity.

Even lower is Block’s nasty stupidity .

Translation: Cain launching baseless accusations against others, including other candidates = not so bad

Politico reporting a true story that the NRA settled two sexual harassment allegations Involving Cain = very, very bad.

I don’t know if he sexually harassed anyone or not, and nobody who wasn’t a close party to the events can say he did or he didn’t. What I do know is it is good that we are asking this question now, instead of post-primary.

I, for one, have seen far too many people jump instantly on the accusers, which is particularly sad because by all appearances, it wasn’t them that came forward with the story. I fully understand the frustration with the double-standard, but don’t think that determining our side likewise can do no wrong is going to help lead to a more accountable political class.

One of the great things about most conservative blogs compared to most liberal blogs is that conservative blogs don’t ignore bad news. When the conservative movement suffers a setback, Legal Insurrection, Instapundit, Powerlineblog, etc., will all address it.

Often, when the left suffers a big setback I check out some of the lefty blogs … and many act like nothing happened!

Liberal blogs mimic their MSM ancestors. For example, if you relied upon the NY Times for all your news, you’d be seeing today, for the very first time, that maybe OWS has a crime problem. You’d be the last person to know … and susceptible to being nicknamed “No Sh*t Sherlock.”

Addressing important bad/negative news is the right thing to do.

No thanks to the ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand approach.

“Yes, we should have standards and those standards should be higher than Democrats set for themselves. But those standards do not mean we have to join in every petty overwrought hyper-ventilated reaction from the left-blogosphere against one of our candidates.”

Yep. Ostrich attitude? No thanks.. But also no thanks to the excessive outrage flock. We see the analogy all too often. Syrians slaughtered in the street? Yawn. Israeli soldiers accidentally kill a Palestinian bystander while fighting Hamas? Oh my G-d! Higher standards dictate outrage beyond all common sense!

Self-criticism is noble … but only when warranted. Gratuitous self-criticism of any imperfect human endeavor of higher standards is just false-nobilitymongering.

[…] Linked by Republican Redefined and by William Jacobson at Legal Insurrections — thanks!   /**/ […]

[…] See Herman, that’s how it’s done. Sharon and hubby have lied. They do need money desperately. Cain should have had investigators on the job months ago. Cain has an opportunity at tonight’s debate to make his case in a nationwide broadcast – but he also needs to get better staff quickly. […]

Can you please stop carrying water for this inept campaign? Mark Block is simply an incompetent boob, and every day that Cain continues to employ him simply brings discredit to him as a candidate.

    damocles in reply to Paul Zummo. | November 9, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    Agree Zummo. Block is a disgrace.

    MaggotAtBroadAndWall in reply to Paul Zummo. | November 9, 2011 at 8:18 pm

    I see Professor Jacobson as providing a counter-weight to the wholly unfair pile on by the Democrat Media Complex AND the rightsphere created by Politico’s sloppy reporting. I don’t see it as carrying water at all. Politico prematurely and unfairly caused the public to render a verdict of guilty against Cain in the court of public opinion. From what I can tell, I don’t think Professor Jacobson has formed an opinion about Cain one way or the other. I think his attitude is let the chips fall where they may — but Cain deserves a fair shake until we know where the chips will fall.

    As far as I know, he hasn’t endorsed a candidate or even indicated who he’s leaning toward.

Anyone remember how the media painted Reagan as inept, dosing, clueless on policy, having to have his statements “revised”, *during* his strikingly successful presidency in terms both of the economy and foreign policy?

Every candidate (and office holder) is stupid at some time or other. Actually, we all are. It’s called the “human condition”.

What’s amazing is that under such pressure, Cain has not been more inept.

And, as you have pointed out Prof. Jacobson, a number of conservative commentators (e.g., Jennifer Rubin) have been even more stupid sitting in the comfort of their swivel chairs. Inept thy name is pundit.

I’m not a Cain backer. At this point not a backer of anyone. Way too early since my candidate said “no”. I’m waiting to see. But all, including Cain, have smarter policies than the current White House occupant.

I don’t know whether Cain did or didn’t do any of the alleged offenses he’s accused of and if indeed he is guilty he deserves the consequences.

However I get tired of people anointing the accusers as pure vessels of truth and light. These women have sat on these supposedly grevious actions for over a decade ion most cases. We’re not talking innocent children abused by an adult – we talking adult women who claim that Cain made unwanted advances toward then. Not one of them has alleged that there was any force or even negative consequences for their nonparticipation. They should be expected to have some sort of proof other than “I told my friend.”

[…] out there who joined in, don’t worry, your candidate will get his in turn.” – Professor William Jacobson (emphasis added)Years ago, I began joking that I ought to write a book about the paleocon/neocon […]

Anyone know anything about Mark Blok? He’s been involved in Milwaukee/Wisconsin politics for a long time and the local talk show hosts are very conservative but also very anti-Blok and think his hiring reflects negatively on Cain LONG before any of these scandals blew up. I’m not sure how national that story went though, insiders around here are not in the mood to give Cain any reasonable doubt with scandals like this due to Blok.

Sure, Politico is way overreacting but that doesn’t mean we should put a former CEO in as President when his argument against inexperience is “I’ll hire the right people” and then his campaign head is Blok. Blok is all over talk radio here and the scandals of the last few weeks and Cain’s man’s poor response only serves as proof of what the locals are saying.

Gingrich for me.

“Mark Block erroneously stated”, professor? No, he did much more than that. He claimed the former Politico employee was Woman #2’s son, UNEQUIVOCALLY, and that Team Cain had confirmed it. This was no mere slip of the tongue, as you wordsmith it to be, this was an outright lie. And you and Stacy McCain, who had been in the tank for Herman Cain for months and would find an excuse for Herman Cain if Cain axe murdered his own mother, can downplay this total Cain train wreck of a compaign if you want.

And katiejane, I suggest what ever it is that you are smoking you stop. “anointing the accusers as pure vessels of truth and light?” Really, where? Certainly not on any conservative blogger I have read. These women have had their financials revealed, their work histories revealed (tell me how that is not a violation of their privacy rights) something that any employer already knows is a big no-no and will land you in court. How does the Cain campaign know that bottom feeder Allred’s client has had 9 jobs in 17 years? Isn’t that private information? Is someone feeding them information fro the Social Security Administration giving the Team Cain private information?

Don’t believe me? Ask the good law professor if I use you for a reference, and you tell a prospective employer (or in this case, the national media) something about my time in your employ that isn’t just the basic “They started employment here on this date, they left employment here on this date, and yes (or no) I would (or would not) employ them again. If someone ever leaked, for lack of a better word, my employment history, they would find their ass in court so fast their head’s would be swimming. Even if a person steals from a company, if they have not been convicted in a court of law for that theft, the employer is NOT allowed to reveal that information.

All this should have been over days ago. Now, Cain, who is going down, seems hell bent to take the rest of the GOP with him. Cain may think this is his Valley Forge, but its going to be his Themopylae. The Republican Party be damned.

    Admonkey in reply to retire05. | November 9, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    Excellent post, retire05, all around, and you’re right: there are plenty of people– and plenty here– downplaying Cain’s situation beyond reasonable sense. Let’s put it another way:

    Imagine the uproar if President Obama, in just two weeks’ time, 1) didn’t know China possessed nuclear weapons, 2) faced a raft of sexual harassment charges, 3) couldn’t name the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan and, 4) trotted out a staff member to spin an inside-job conspiracy theory that was pure whole cloth fiction?

    Aneurysms would be rupturing so fast and loud you’d think it was popcorn on the stove.

    So many here seem stuck at stage one of their Kübler-Ross journeys. Sooner or later, though, it will pass and a justification for Gingrich’s peccadilloes will begin being concocted.

    Even those will eventually be abandoned, of course, and afterwards will dawn the realization that, either a certain degree of nose-pinching will have to occur at the ballot box or the ballot box will have to be avoided altogether.

      Milhouse in reply to Admonkey. | November 10, 2011 at 12:11 am

      Are you still running with the ridiculous claim that Cain didn’t know China has nuclear weapons?!

        boone in reply to Milhouse. | November 10, 2011 at 1:09 am

        Yeah, I mean they totally clarified that to claim that they knew it was actually nuclear submarines China hasn’t had, except since the 1970s… but man, if you are talking about 1969 China… Cain is absolutely right.

To bother with providing aid and comfort for the enemy is disgraceful.

They torpedoed the Cain. Why are we bothering to hold a mutiny?

We’ve had 3 long, difficult years to uncover all the horrid little secrets of Obama’s pre-Presidential years and there are plenty of them. No sex scandals, but also no woman who claims to have gone on a date with the guy before he up and marries Michelle.

What does that tell you about him?

Why are we doing in our own politicians when we should be raking Obama over his well deserved coals? His war chest may be all he needs to retain his seat but we should make him radioactive to every Dem candidate who isn’t Nancy Pelosi.

We aren’t doing our job. Eat THEIR lunch. Whip THEIR dog.

Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!

    retire05 in reply to Kerrvillian. | November 9, 2011 at 9:44 pm

    “They torpedoed Cain.”

    Who are “they?” Or are you now reduced to the vague generalities that you most certainly would accuse the left wing media of? Would “they” be ALL Democrats, or maybe only 100, or 30 or even 5?

    Now, why don’t you deal with reality, not how you would like for things to be? The left wing press will NEVER go after Obama. Never. He is the culimination of their Marxist dreams seeded in journalism school. Obama is their socialist uptopian dream. Complaining about a problem that has existed for decades is not going to change it. It is what it is.

    The time will come for the GOP nominee to take Obama on. Now is the time for us to vet the candidates and pick the one most likely to provide us with the kinds of leadership, and government, that we most desire. And we can only do that by vetting the candidates, looking at their record and how they have previously acted when given a chance to govern or affect government. Sadly, perusing those records leaves Herman Cain off the list, in spite of his women and campaign finance problems.

[…] eventually nominated in a long and drawn out war between conservative factions. Professor Jacobson has more on that aspect as […]

[…] Prof. Jacobson reminds conservatives who are happy to see Herman go down (don’t reach for the smelling salts, […]