COMMENTARY | Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and candidate for president, held a press conference to address new changes of sexual harassment brought on by a woman named Sharon Bialek in hopes of putting them to rest once and for all.
Did Cain succeed? Of course not.
Cain is hip-deep in the scandal morass that has sunk many a political career. It matters little whether he did any or all of the things that he is accused of doing. The luridness of the charges is all that matters. Cain can deny all he wants, point out that there is no proof to the allegations, and suggest that his accusers lack credibility all he wants. The story has become a monster that will not die until it has either consumed Herman Cain or Cain has somehow managed to outlast it.
There is some evidence that the stories are already beginning to erode Cain’s support. It is not that any erstwhile supporter believes the allegations. It is just that the constant airing of them is beginning to leave a bad taste in the mouths of Republican voters as a fear that they could be used against Cain in the general election should he be nominated.
The imbroglio has revealed something approaching racism, if not the actual thing, at least where a conservative black man is concerned, on the part of the mainstream media, as when NBC’s David Gregory talked about Grand Wizards in the Republican Party who were not, apparently, conspiring against Cain. A MSNBC contributor named Toure ruminated about “predatory black sexuality” preying on blond white women.Gregory since apologized for his remarks.
The mind boggles. Just as when Sarah Palin has being attacked with lurid, outrageous charges and called names that could not be repeated, Cain is being given the same treatment. Just as conservative women like Palin are hated with a passion that goes beyond reason, conservative black men are despised with the same kind of intensity.
Conservative politicians have been hated before. Reagan and George W. Bush come to mind. But what is happening to Cain, as well as Palin before him, reveals something that is sick in the political souls of liberals. It is not enough that a person be defeated and his ideas discredited. He must be destroyed, annihilated, and expunged from existence. It will be a blot on America if this happens to Cain.