Because I’m traveling all day, I’m not going to be able to cover the Politico’s not very specific yet sensational claims about two settlements in the 1990s involving women who worked at the National Restaurant Association when Herman Cain ran the organization. It’s not clear what Cain allegedly did, whether there really were claims of “inappropriate” behavior, or if the claims were legitimate.
Today, or in the next couple of days, I expect that more details — or evidence of the lack of details — will emerge. We’ll find out if there is any there there.
This is the first real test of Cain’s candidacy. How he handles this will determine whether he remains a contender.
How should we react? The instinct to defend a conservative is a good instinct. We’ve seen too many times, with Sarah Palin and recently with Rick Perry, how the MSM will give every benefit of the doubt to those who make accusations. We must fight against the use of mere accusations as evidence of actual misconduct.
If supporters of other candidates — particularly bloggers — gloat over Cain’s problems, post it in the comments and when I get back I’ll take a pixelated 2″ x 4″ to their heads, because piling on a fellow conservative is inexcusable. It’s the principle I’ve been following for the past three years when Republicans piled on and took cheap shots at Palin, and it’s a principle I’ll apply to Cain.
So consider this an Open thread, and keep each other informed of the latest.
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