Herman Cain Harassment Allegations: Cain Plays the Victim
Good analysis from Michelle Goldberg that points out how Cain knew this was coming and had already set himself up to play Clarence Thomas Redux as a counter months ago. The question is: can Herman’s ploy, so carefully contrived, work?
Well it’s the primaries, and this year the hard religious right owns the GOP. Among hardscrabble Socons hearkening back to the travails of the only black justice they like will probably work for Cain. With other voters? Likely not.
Obviously, Cain had reason to know what was coming. Yesterday, Politico broke a story about past charges of sexual harassment against the GOP frontrunner. “During Herman Cain’s tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, ultimately leaving their jobs at the trade group, multiple sources confirm to POLITICO,” the piece began. The restaurant group ultimately settled with the women, who took five-figure payouts and signed nondisclosure agreements.
Details of the alleged harassment were vague—according to Politico, it included “conversations allegedly filled with innuendo or personal questions of a sexually suggestive nature, taking place at hotels during conferences, at other officially sanctioned restaurant association events and at the association’s offices.” Cain’s campaign denies there was harassment, but not that there were accusations and settlements.
Back in May, Cain telegraphed how he was going to deal with these charges: play the martyr under assault by racist, hypocritical liberals. “Sadly, we’ve seen this movie played out before—a prominent Conservative targeted by liberals simply because they disagree with his politics,” said a statement by his campaign yesterday. The Thomas reference seemed clear.