Shall We Start a Pool re When Cain Leaves the Race?
In my previous post about Herman Cain, I suggested responses to the sexual harassment allegations that could keep him in the running. Now I agree with former Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner who said at the beginning of this debacle that Cain is toast.
If you were betting, when do you think he will leave the race for president?
And what do you think last night’s election returns mean for him and the rest of the Republican candidates?
Arena Asks:Herman Cain held a press conference tonight to defend his reputation, choosing to address accusations of sexual harassment directly. “I have never acted inappropriately with anyone, period,” Cain said, indicating that he has no idea who accuser Sharon Bialek was. He added that he would not be stepping out of the presidential race.
Is Cain wise to remain in the presidential race? And does his defense of his reputation seem plausible?
My Answer: Cain is getting less plausible by the minute.
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Cain stays in the race at peril of going down in the same flames that engulfed Anthony Weiner and so many other politicians on both sides of the aisle. They are like babies who think that when they have blankets over their heads no one can see them. Eventually, they have to backtrack on everything, and that more than any acts they committed forces them out.
Herman Cain has never lacked for arrogance and it is not surprising that he claims innocence. Many men, especially in his age group and at his level of power, often have no awareness when their behavior toward women is inappropriate because they have heretofore been able to get away with it. For many women who have been in the workforce for several decades, such behavior used to be “just the way things are.” For women today, thankfully, sexual harassment has a name–and remedies.
Here’s the link to my original post on Politico…
GLORIA FELDT is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, a sought-after speaker and frequent contributor to major news outlets, and the Co-Founder and President of Take The Lead. People has called her “the voice of experience,” and among the many honors she has been given, Vanity Fair called her one of America’s “Top 200 Women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers,” and Glamour chose her as a “Woman of the Year.”
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Perhaps Mr. Cain is so blind and arrogant as to think he can bluster and deny his way out of this, as Clarence Thomas did, but some Republicans realize otherwise, and they know that this can only help Obama. If Obama is smart, he will use the reluctance of Republican candidates to denounce Cain against them at every opportunity. I read a Politico piece that said Democratic operatives were not attacking Cain because that would be like bayoneting the dead. He is toast, though your phrase cold pizza might suit him better! His poll numbers have already dropped significantly. He may have a core base that will stick by him no matter what, but if he and his allies think they can convince people Cain is innocent by attacking the credibility of his accusers (and Gloria Allred), they will have a rude awakening.
By the way, I would like to meet a man who has never acted inappropriately with women. I doubt there is such a man anywhere, excepting possibly a monk who never encounters women, though certainly there are plenty who do not think they have acted inappropriately! Some inappropriate actions are unintentional and forgivable. The actions of Herman Cain with these women (and who knows how many more) are neither.
You know, after hearing him respond last night, I actually think he believes that he did absolutely nothing wrong. I think he plans to hang in there until he gets forced out. He won’t leave on his own.
Aletha, what you say about there being no men who haven’t acted inappropriately with women rings true. I’ve even had (basically very good) men say as much, as they realized that they had in fact probably sexually harassed women. As Rick Peery would say, “oops!”
And Cain’s aggressive offense does, as Colette says, appear to mean he isn’t going anywhere unless forced out. I don’t have huge confidence in Gloria Allred, and if there are no further women coming forth, he might just get away with it.
Cain already has gotten away with it, legally speaking, but I doubt his campaign has anywhere to go but downhill. Even Newt Gingrich, who initially defended him, is having misgivings.
I never thought a day would come when I would want to thank Newt Gingrich, but I must give credit where credit is due. Cain had no answer but more bluster and denial, but I think his campaign will survive more than a day. Perhaps a month or two, since there really is not much the Republicans could do to force him out. They could, and should, try, but I doubt he would pay any attention. However, the first primaries are coming up fast, and I think he will fade away quickly after that.
Dave Morse posted the following comment on Shall We Start a Pool re When Cain Leaves the Race? on BestThinking.com, where this post was republished:
The pain and shame which women suffer when they are sexaully abused must be an awful thing, Gloria, and Herman Cain should confess his guilt, if that is the case, and apologize, but why did the women who were allegedly abused by Mr. Cain wait so long to come forward? The timing of their revelations, I’m sorry, raises serious questions as to their credibility and motives. Lest I be told that I don’t understand, I was emotionally abused by my aunt when I was a child and physically abused by female teachers when I was a small boy because I was a late bloomer so I do understand the trauma and the shame attendant with such abuse. By the grace of the Lord, however, I have been healed of many of those scars and am a happily married man.
I’m being outspoken, Gloria, but the importance of spirited debate is important as I’m sure you value and agree with. I must say, though, that your assertion that Hermain Cain is arrogant is questionable. Have you spoken with the man for extended periods of time, concerning the grave issues of our time as a nation, and has he treated you arrogantly? If so, he should apologize to you and ask you for your forgiveness but if he has not your assertion is unfounded.
Thank you for your time, and, again, lest you think that I don’t understand, I have frequently spoken out about the horrific injustices that women suffer worldwide through letters to the editors of magazines and essays written in Japan, the U.S., and Australia. Moreover, I have advocated in written and spoken form about the terrible plight of Mixteco campesinas (female migrant farm workers), who are indigenous women from Southern Mexico who do much of the backbreaking stoop labor, in the U.S., at a pittance, that brings food to our tables and to tables around the globe.
If you wish, you may read the article which is entitled “One Day in the Life of a Campesina” which is on this web site; I’ve also written an article on the sexual abuse of Mixteco women laborers which is entitled: “The Abuse of the Green Motel,” which can also be found on this web site.
Please keep up the good fight of advocacy for women which is very much needed worldwide, but I beg to differ with your article above. Thanks again, and have a blessed Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s Season, Gloria.
Best regards,
Dave Morse
Mr. Morse, your questioning of the timing is as stale a refrain as the questioning of battered women, why did she not leave him? These women came forward because Herman Cain, defying all expectations, was polling rather well and might have become the Republican candidate for President. Women who accuse highly regarded men of sexual harassment, or rape, routinely have their characters assassinated. All too often, abused women choose to suffer in silence because the consequences of coming forward seem worse.
Since when does one have to speak personally with an arrogant ass to determine that he deserves to be called that? I do not care how charming Cain may be in person, my conclusion is that he committed crimes against women and is lying through his teeth to cover his arrogant ass. Perhaps you can explain why you think he deserves more credibility than his accusers.
Dave, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I did read your Campesina article and it is heart wrenching. It reveals that you do indeed have empathy for people who have been abused. But it is also an excellent example of why women (and men) who have been harassed often don’t report for many years if ever. Sexual harassment and abuse are about power more than sex. The harasser has the privilege of power and abuses it.
Just look at what happened at Penn State to see another example. Of course the men in the media are flipping out and giving this greater attention because boys have been sexually abused. Which is another clue to why women so often don’t report: we have endured sexual comments, gropes, and requests for so many years because the culture accepted that women’s bodies were commodities. We knew there was likely to be retribution for reporting, that jobs could be lost when there were children to be fed, and that it was entirely possible no one would believe us. Then there is the pain, the shame, the reluctance to talk about sex in a culture that stuffs it under the table, except when used to sell products.
I believe Cain when he says he doesn’t remember the women who are accusing him. That’s another part of the privilege of power that has inured to males in charge of large organizations for way too long, and why we have needed laws and workplace policies to combat the results.
You are right that I haven’t spoken with Cain personally, but I can read his angry and hostile body language which is the soul of arrogance and in this case it might well also be the offensive strategy that he chooses to use as a defense. In my experience, when people who are not guilty are so charged, they at least express some horror over the alleged acts and some empathy for the victims.
Please read Aletha’s comment for my thoughts about arrogance. I concur with her assessment on that, and especially the question of why you would assume him to me more credible than the four women.