COMMENTARY | A day after Atlanta businessman Herman Cain told CNN that he would not quit campaigning for president, he told staffers in a conference call that he was “reassessing” his campaign in light of the accusation that he had a 13-year affair with an Atlanta woman. But what is there to reassess when he claims that there was nothing between them but friendship? Besides, what’s an affair of 13 years when the candidate leading in the Republican presidential preference polls is Newt Gingrich, a man twice divorced, alleged to have cheated on his wives with his later wives, and sanctioned by the GOP-controlled House Ethics Committee in 1998 when he was Speaker?
Details of the scandalous relationship went public Tuesday when Ginger White told WAGA in Atlanta that she had been having an affair with Cain up until eight months ago. White’s revelation was the latest in a string of allegations that began with a Politico article on Oct. 31 that revealed that Cain had been the target of at least two sexual harassment claims while president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s.
But the beleaguered businessman pre-empted White’s story by appearing on CNN and denying there had ever been an affair between himself and White, who also lives in Atlanta. He admitted to knowing White, but that was all.
When later asked if their relationship had been sexual, White contradicted Cain. ” Absolutely,” she told WAGA. “I can’t imagine him confirming. It’s the name of the game I guess.”
Cain’s Iowa chairman, Steve Grubbs, told CNN, that Cain said during the conference call that all the allegations were “taking an emotional toll on his family and that this is a very difficult time.”
Unfortunately for Cain, he has a couple things working against him that Gingrich does not: Time and money. The allegations against Cain are fresh and the media has latched onto the sexually charged insinuations and sexual harassment cases as new news (because they are just now finding out about them as they concern a candidate for the presidency), whereas Gingrich’s inappropriate acts occurred over a decade ago and, except for those with an historical bent in their articles, are relegated to old news because the allegations ran their course long ago.
As for money concerns to finance their respective campaigns, Gingrich can tap a vast reservoir of political and corporate connections, the result of years in Congress and over a decade of consulting in Washington. A Cain staffer anonymously told CNN that the campaign looked as if it would soon have to lay off personnel and the next few days would indicate whether or not there would be enough money and support for the campaign to continue. It all depended on who supporters and donors believed in the latest scandal.
White said she came forward because reporters were calling her workplace, asking about her connection to Cain. But she insisted she had nothing to gain by coming forward about the affair.
Unfortunately for Herman Cain, neither did he.