I’ve done this before, more than once. But now that Herman Cain is out of the race, this may be the last time (probably not, but we can hope):
As of today, 5 weeks after Politico broke the story, we still do not know what Herman Cain was accused of doing at the National Restaurant Association which gave rise to Politico’s original October 30 report of two settlements, or the evidence to support Politico’s characterization of the allegations as “sexual harassment.”
We keep talking about 4 or 5 sexual harassment accusers, but we know the allegations of only one (Sharon Bialek, who was not part of the original Politico reporting and whose story is highly suspect). I just think it’s worth noting, even if it’s history now.
The latest allegation of marital infidelity (which Cain denies and as to which there is no independent evidence) would not have cratered Cain’s campaign but for the weeks of reporting kicked off by Politico on October 30.
Which brings me to this masterpiece of denial by Jonathan Martin as to what Politico did to Cain, Herman Cain 2012 campaign a victim of the laws of political gravity:
Cain, who exited the race Saturday over allegations of sexual impropriety, demonstrated that candidates still must have a grasp on the issues, possess some degree of political experience and retain a competent staff.
Antipathy toward Washington may be soaring, but outsider status isn’t sufficient by itself to overcome deeper flaws.
GOP primary voters are indicating that they’d prefer a insider who’s competent than someone from outside the establishment who may not be up to the task of taking on President Obama.
There is truth to the point that Cain’s failings as a candidate — lack of political experience, superficial knowledge of the issues, and an incompetent team — would have led Cain’s campaign to fall to earth by the pull of political gravity.
I never was a Cain supporter, so I had no vested interest in seeing him prevail, and his departure probably will help my preferred candidate.
But come on, Politico pushed Cain off the bridge, he didn’t just fall by some force of nature. Hundreds of articles using the term “sexual harassment” without any facts is not natural, it’s a journalistic freak of nature.
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PUHLEEEEEEZE:
WERE YOU EQUALLY DEFENSIVE OF BJ CLINTON WHEN ALL HIS TRAILER TRASH BIMBOS CAME FORWARD?
CAIN BROUGHT THIS ON HIMSELF.
BESIDES: HIS 999 PLAN WAS A JOKE/FIASCO.
GOOD RIDDANCE.
That’s funny but I didn’t see Herman Cain’s byline on all those poorly sourced, vague Politico articles.
We may never know the truth but it is difficult to claim that Cain “brought it on himself”…
Ah, the old “what did you do when Clinton did ….” What difference does it make. Please tell use precisely what Cain was accused of doing at the NRA and what evidence supported the accusation. You can’t, so don’t make bold statements that Cain brought it all on himself.
Professor, we know he was accused of harrassment and a payout was made.
Cain knows what happened, the women know what happened, the NRA knows. Apparently the settlement has a cionfidentiality clause, thus no information released.
However, if I were Cain, and I knew the claims were truly baseless and that I did nothing wrong, I would have immediately called on the NRA to release all information. I would have waived any privileges I had. Offered to pay any amount. I’d have called on Ms Kraushaar to go together with me to NRA HQ and we would both request the info with full media coverage. I’d have said that nothing wrong happened and that the second any evidence is provided to the contrary I will immediately drop out of the race. I would have instructed my legal team to do whatever was necessary to release the information. I would have gone to NRA HQ in DC and I would have announced to the media that I was remaining there until the information was released and this issue was dealt with. I would have immediately volunteered to take a lie detector test live on natl tv and invited the women to do the same.
Wouldn’t you have done all that and more if the media was pushing a false story that threatened to derail your quest for the presidency? I know I would have. I would have called them all out and exposed them as the liars I knew they were. I would have ruined Politico, sued them for libel, and not stopped until they went of business.
Why didn’t Cain do any of that? Why did he make no real effort to get the facts out there?
Why did Cain not demand that the content of the texts to white be released? Why did he not go with reporters to the various hotels/restaurants mentioned and interview the staff to disprove her claims? Demand any security camera footage?
I think we both know the reason why
Are you kidding?
IIRC didn’t the clinton accusers agree to testify under oath too?
did not see that with cains accusers.
if I remember wrong please correct me.
harassment suits were foiled and settled years before cain embarked on his book tour dressed up as a run for potus.
they were not trumped up for political reasons.
nearly ALL harassment suits are he said she said.
if he was innocent then he would have stayed in.
harassment suits were foiled and settled years before cain embarked on his book tour dressed up as a run for potus.
they were not trumped up for political reasons.
nearly ALL harassment suits are he said she said.
if he was innocent then he would have stayed in.
so…. you refuse to believe the women who say they were harassed.
that’s convenient.
why believe him over them?
the absolutely idiotic 999 plan had an effect on my opinion of cain:
it was so stupid and egomaniacal. i saw its flaw in 15 seconds. he had to invent a 909/999 version a few weeks later. that’s not what a responsible, thoughtful person running for potus does. he’d think a lot longer and better about a major reform before uttering it. cain just uttered it without thinking it out. probably like his come-ons to women.
What were the allegations and proof as to the two women who complained at the time? We never have been told. I don’t believe or not believe the unknown. As to 999 that’s a completely different issue that had nothing to do with politico so don’t change the subject.
Let me see if I have this right – you conclude that Cain is guilty of harrassment because he came up with the 999 plan, which is “stupid?” Advocating a stupid position proves that someone committed an offense for which there is no evidence other than an accusation?
If that’s the case, you are Jack the Ripper.
And of course, we can’t ignore that specific person with specific allegations supported with actual DNA evidence in Clinton’s case.
There are enormous differences between “BJ” Clinton and Herman Cain.
But let’s not let facts get in the way…
Journolist lives!
“…find a right winger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear…”
Herman Cain was one who pointedly noted that all the “political experience” in Washington was actually making things worse. We need an outsider who will tear down the “insider” establishment that is quite near its goal of destroying the Constitution and Republic. And one thing I think we all agree on is that we don’t have much time left to dismantle the unconstitutional central government before we reach the tipping point. Assuming we haven’t reached that point already…
Ahhhh… Thank you for an objective look at what is.
If any government merits undoing, it’s the regime that currently occupies the WH. I cannot visualize a more corrupt graft ridden bunch of lying thieves that comprise the incompetent cabal in DC.
And you’re right, there’s a limited amount of time to make corrections and I mean BIG corrections..
With Cain out of the race, the closest we have to an ‘outsider’ would be Gov Perry. Although Ron Paul is kinda an outsider, because everyone in DC thinks he’s batsh*t crazy.
Herman Cain was so right on a lot of issues. Yep,i said that. He was more than right that political experience in Washington was making things worse.Herman Cain-our first citizen President in a very long time. You have to know that as much as MOST of us wanted that,the people with the say so don’t. Or the ppl who have HAD the say so don’t want that.
So Cain had one really big target on his back to begin with.The pundits (who call THEMSELVES experts will deny that. I’m ok with that. They can believe that all they like. I love how ppl like this guy say the campaign was run poorly. Had some flaws but let’s get real here. He had 0 name ID. Maybe known by some folks from his radio show.Nationally-0. He had very little money compared to the big guns who had been around awhile at least. They had money,organization and name ID. All the stuff you need for a campaign,right? Cain goes from bottom,meaning rock bottom to 5%.He hovers there for quite some time and picks up steam little by little. The media,before they even sat down w/ the guy,painted him poorly. Then he won Florida. I was on Twitter that night being tweeted by ppl in Florida who voted. They voted FOR Cain. I was watching Fox and they reported the anti Perry vote for Cain. Now i’m hearing from the folks there who actually voted and it’s a pure Cain vote.The ppl in media are saying it’s an anti Perry vote. So they take away even that from Herman Cain. The pundits and media? He’ll get that far-but no further. He goes to second tier.He’ll get that far but he’s running a really lousy campaign etc etc. Finally he’s the FRONT RUNNER. This has to be the worst run campaign in history. And then wham.
Do they question the facts? NOPE. Do they investigate at all? NOPE.They question Cain. Do they put it out there without being sure it’s even true? YEP.There we agree. You know this was a very decent man. It’s not just what it did to him,to us,to his family-it’s what it did to the process.
The job of a journalist is to get to the objective truth.
Guess what? YOU FAILED. We are entitled to KNOW where this smear originated. We are entitled to KNOW who was involved in it. We are entitled to those answers.Not the soap opera reality tv show feed of beating up Herman Cain w/o PROOF.
That’s not journalism. You know what? The campaign was SUSPENDED. That means not ended and that also means open to the possibility.Herman Cain was exactly the Pres we needed.
He knew that America was great.He knew that you stand by your friends like Israel. He knew that you don’t give money to your enemies. He knew that the economy is on life support and it would take a bold plan;and that national security was squid with the economic catastrophe that is looming.He knew that we were a great country with flaws.We knew he would be a great President WITH FLAWS.
He IS the people’s President. So when is someone going to do this investigative journalism and give us the answers we deserve. The people are getting kind of steamed up out here over the media.More than a little and eventually you ppl will be irrelevant.I think i’d start doing the job and soon. We can get our information elsewhere w/o the silly filter.
You’re exactly right… No high fallutin’ lawyer/sleazy politician. Just a self made man with actual executive experience.
Now we’re gonna be stuck with, well, er… You know!
Not natural? It’s natural to them.
Politico did not push Cain off the bridge.
Republican primary voters and campaign donors care little for what Politico may says, and the story clearly had no legs.
No, it was the various voices, ostensibly on the ‘right’, who saw an opportunity and ignoring any sense of better judgement took advantage of the situation for the perceived betterment of their chosen candidate. They are the ones who made the story stick around.
In other words, they behaved exactly like the people they claim to oppose. They don’t just think themselves better, they think themselves your masters.
THIS ^^.
the “conservative” sites (not this site) did as much damage to him as politico by not attacking back. they were not a fan of his for whatever reason and were, for the most part, apathetic over what politico started. by doing nothing they facilitated and supported it. as long as they did not like the candidates position it was just fine, truth is a luxury that mattered naught to them.
This. Times a thousand. It’s the Republican nomination after all so if the so-called right held fast what could Politico really do, they’re a well-known bunch of leftist hacks. No, it was the relentless pounding by the so-called new “conservative” media that really sealed the deal. They did the same thing with Bachmann.
Whether these people deserve to be the nominees or not is another matter but the so-called right is going full Alinsky on these candidates. Why? Page views? Because they prefer someone else? I don’t know but I’ve never been more discouraged. And it makes me appreciate LI all the more.
“reliapundit” yells at us about what we said about Clinton. I didn’t really care that Clinton got a BJ from a young, impressionable intern any more than I care about what Cain did or did not do. The difference is not what our side did, but rather what the Left did not do. Clinton used his position of power to obtain sexual favors from a young woman who believed he “loved” her. A Republican would have been run out of the White House on a rail by the Leftist women’s organizations like NOW. Their silence spoke volumes and ended any credibility they had. Clinton lied about it before a Grand Jury seeking to determine if he had sexually harassed another woman, costing her a job. Perjury.
The difference between Clinton and Cain in this subject is night and day. The hypocrisy of the Left is as apparent now as it was then.
This was no journalistic freak of nature either. It was a deliberate sabotage. Exactly like Dan Rather’s attempt.
“What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left.”
~Spencer Ackerman
Herman Cain went after the left. He paid the price. Too few on the right were willing to defend him. They know they would have paid a price too.
I will give the guy here kudos for having the guts to say Cain was pushed and writing a darned good article about it.
You got it right and it’s not often i agree with you ‘experts’.
However,ppl are owed answers.They ran with the smear w/o investigating and put it out there.Now someone with any integrity at all should investigate-put the TRUTH out there.
Yes. Politico did it, allowing the media then to seize upon a naive Ginger White and threaten that if she didn’t accept their offered “opportunity” to tell her “newsworthy” story, it would come out worse for her. So she caved when what she should have done was just not respond at all.
Uhm… Larry Sinclair? 🙂
oh not to worry.i blame all the ones who stood around permitting Cain to get shoved by not doing their homework either. The status quo-from either side at this point-likes the status quo. i guess if you wait till you’re actually in the White House to have an affair it is more acceptable than just being ACCUSED before you get there. All someone has to do now is make an accusation.Good enough. I can’t believe anyone finds that acceptable.On the bright side.The campaign is SUSPENDED. I read a hash tag today. COME BACK CAIN.
It doesn’t answer the question though; journalists now spend time becoming part of the dirt rather than investigating it? We deserve way better.Is there anyone out there with INTEGRITY? A lot of ppl are waiting.It’s on my bucket list to see it.
It seems to be a trend that once someone or some story is put out there alleging sexual impropriety, then others will find the courage to come out and back up the story in some form or fashion. I’m beginning to think that someone (like Politico) could easily throw out a bogus accusation just to see what sticks, and especially to draw out additional accusers with real stories to tell. If there is a story out there, then accusers should feel comfortable to come out of the woodwork at that point. If there are no real stories to tell, the first one will just die a quiet death.
It’s very unlikely the Democrats pulled this because they have lost, tactically, because there’s going to be much less of a primary fight. It’s plausible, for the same reason, that the GOP establishment would do it, but I’m generally skeptical of the notion that either party is going to devote serious resources to sinking their own candidates.
It would have taken some work to dig through legal records and then track these women down, and then they had to negotiate with Politico about the story. And if you’re part of one of the campaigns or with the RNC or some official GOP organization, journalists know who you are. So how did they avoid being identified?
I think that outside of the party establishments and the various grassroots organizations, there is a mass of political opportunists. People like Allred, for example, found these women and sought to use them to get themselves exposure and attention.
What happened with Politico, I think, is that they got played. It’s just tragic (and funny) that they bought into this sensational story only to find that they had no story. I think some huckster was managing these women, and sold Politico on it with sensational promises that never materialized. It seems like a classic con job.
To end on a depressing note, it wouldn’t surprise me at all that these women’s lives were turned upside down and Cain’s reputation was trashed over a pittance.
I met Herman Cain in 1998. I’m quite tall, 6’6″. Cain said I was about the same height as one of his uncles. I’m suing Cain for sexual harrassment.
The campaign for president, the election of 2012, should mark the time when the mainstream media lost its credibility. But, instead, its newspapers will still be purchased, its radio and TV news shows will continue to have an audience, and it will continue to spew its hatred and lies while ignoring the many problems of its preferred political candidates; all those many Socialists, those who like to say they are “progressives!”
The only way the MSM will be taken down is for its candidates to be fully exposed for what they are. Conservatives did expose Obama for what he was yet that wasn’t pressed. McCain, like “W” before him, didn’t want to be harshly judged so he didn’t fight back. Palin had to be subjected to mass investigations while Obama skated. Obama’s many bows to foreign rulers have been excused, even his bow to the Emperor of Japan, along with his apology for our military’s bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Jeez, Obama even bowed to the Mayor of Tampa, FL, which only demonstrates his subjecting the presidency to more ridicule.
So, what the Politico did to Herman Cain should have been fought. Instead, Politico now believes it can take down any GOP candidate it wishes to without even a whimper from conservatives. The only response conservatives should make now is to vow that we’ll never again allow those rotten SOBs, those so-called Journolists, to control the message and the medium. If we don’t fight back and hammer them every time they try to take down one of us, we will lose the 2012 elections. It’s not enough to piss and moan about the bad actors like Politico or the NYT or the WaPo bunch, our side has to swing back, exposing their false claims, refuting their statements, and digging hard into the background of all their candidates. Expose the Alphabet soup networks for all their lies, the NYT, LAT, WaPo, etc… for their many false articles, expose those many articles where their writers insert opinion into so-called articles of fact. This is a struggle we must wage or we lose. The flip side, is that on those few occasions when they act honorably, we should give them an solid “AttaBoy!”
Long ago, journalists were considered to be muckrakers except we once knew they would dig to find the truth. But, no more, now they are pond scum and not even able of producing algae.
Dougie, Dougie, Dougie. It was four plus years earlier the LSM lost their credibility. By not performing due diligence on Teh Wan. Remember? Pay attention, please
Ah, the voice of sweet reason? Please don’t waste all your wonderful dweets on us Hoi polloi! We are not worthy!
Scooby509
If it were true that Politico got played why didn’t they stop when they realized there was no real proof and they had no story there. They went on for weeks with a non story. No, they were part of it all. Their goal was to destroy Cain with anything they could come up with. The whole liberal media is in cohoots with each other and will stop at nothing to re-elect obama. Look for every one of our candidates fighting false allegations of one kind or another right up to the 2012 election and beyond. H*ll, they haven’t let up on Bush to this day three years after he left office. This is the Chicago way and the obama way to destroy their opponents before the election. We are fools to let them get away with this. The left doesn’t care about infidelity. But they know the right does. If anyone is being played it is us. The fact that we allow it doesn’t speak well for us either.
The religious right with their holier than thou complex is responsible for this too I was reading an article and comments in American Thinker yesterday about the letter that southern baptist minister wrote demanding Newt apoligize to the southern baptist women for his infidelities. Self righteous people came on again and again with their garbage about Newt Gingrich’s leaving his wife and marrying his lover. They were saying that no one leaves their spouse for any reason whatsoever and to do so is grounds for not voting for them as president. Never mind the country is going down the tube. Let’s stick to the high road and let it go down because our religious fervor tells us to. I’ll be a nickel these are the same people who refused to vote for McCain and let the communist into office to “teach the GOP a lesson”. Well, they succeeded in that lesson. The trouble is we and the whole country are paying for it. But for them to do it again is egregious. Also, no one knows what goes on in a marriage but the two people involved. And no one has the right to pass judgement on any decision any one else makes. But for them to say no one leaves their spouse for any reason whatsoever is garbage. They are reprimanding and denouncing every woman or man who left an abusive marriage that was either physically or mentaly unbearable. I have friends who never worked a day in their lives and who apparently have a happy marriage passing judgment on those of us who did not have these mercies. They, like the commenters of AT, haven’t walked in our shoes and cannot tell us what we should or should not do. They live in a rosy world protected from realities by their husbands. They don’t have to go to work every day and take a lot of demeaning flak for co workers and bosses.
The reason they continued is simply. They are not journolists. They are publicists and junk yard dogs. Their job is to make sure Teh Wan wins another term.
Does anyone remember that what the country truly needs is a new commander in chief? Is it not obvious that this years crop of media stars feels the same way the jornolists felt- powerful enough to take down anyone, without much proof, just for kicks? Not feeling powerful enough, the politico folks (and lots of their kin) want to make news instead of report on it. They think they can do this from the comfort of their bedrooms, with a laptop, and without many facts.
How to fix this? Well lets stop giving these guys so much oxygen and focus on what it takes to bring real facts before the American people. The ‘media’ is not going to do it and so far the ‘traditional’ republican messaging and extremely tired ad campaigns and postcards aren’t doing it for me.
Demand better, demand modern cutting-edge media campaigns, get some people who understand the power of the internet and drag our tired republican campaign committees into the present. It’ll be hard to win independent voters, young voters, and disgruntled democrats when we’re getting beat on strategy day after day. Demand better!
Well, to follow the analogy, I agree that Cain was pushed by Politico. However, I don’t think they pushed him over the edge. They left him teetering over the precipice and it was his windmilling response that sent him over. I truly think that if he hadn’t made so many blunders in how he responded, he might have survived the attack.
His staff lashed out against Perry (and I think once against Romney). His staff said one thing and he said another.
It was like they were caught totally off guard. Which they shouldn’t have been. When he first started his campaign, his chief of staff should have set him down to discuss any possible skeletons he had that could be dug up. Settlements in sexual harrassment cases should have been brought up then and a response should have been worked out well in advance. After all, he would be running as a Republican and he should have been prepared to be slimed by the media.
It was the ill prepared Cain campaign team that made me conclude that Cain wasn’t ready for a really nasty general election. It wasn’t Politico that made me think that. I mean these were sexual harrassment settlements. Those things are a joke. They were back in the 90’s and they are today. Via Hot Air Student suspended for saying teacher was “cute” The teacher wasn’t even present when he said it, and they are calling it sexual harrassment. Oh yeah, and it was a 9 year old boy who said his teacher was cute.
Better hope he never runs for president in the future. At least not as a Republican.
As I wrote in my own blog – The question remains: Which Republican candidate will be next to collapse under the blazing heat of media propaganda? Figure out who has the best chance of defeating Obama and you will have your answer.