Cain Spokesman: ‘Smear Campaign Meant to Discredit a True Patriot’
UPDATE: Former Campaign Aide Says Cain’s Behavior ‘Never Even Bordered on Inappropriate in the Slightest’

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You have to read pretty far down into the Politico story before you find that response from Herman Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon, and the article sticks all the exculpatory material at the end:

Ron Magruder, Denise Marie Fugo and Joseph Fassler, the chair, vice chair and immediate past chairman of the National Restaurant Association board of directors at the time of Cain’s departure, said they hadn’t heard about any complaints regarding Cain making unwanted advances.
“I have never heard that. It would be news to me,” said Fugo, who runs a Cleveland, Ohio, catering company, adding such behavior would be totally out of character for the Cain she knew. “He’s very gracious.”
Fassler, who helped bring Cain on board as CEO of the restaurant association, said that any inappropriate behavior was not brought to his attention and that he would be upset to learn it had gone on and he was not made aware of it.
“That’s a shock to me,” Fassler said. “As an officer during all of Herman’s years there as a paid executive… none of that stuff ever surfaced to me. Nobody ever called me, complained about this, nor did I ever hear that from Peter Kilgore, nor did I ever hear that from Herman Cain.”
Fassler — who ran a Phoenix food-service company and finished his term as chairman the month before Cain’s June 1999 departure but remained on the board’s executive committee — described Cain as treating men and women identically and asserted it was “not within his character” to make unwanted advances. “It’s not what I know of him,” Fassler said.
Much like Fassler, almost all board members remember Cain fondly and say he left on good terms.
Cain was “extremely professional” and “fair” to female staffers at the restaurant association, recalled Lee Ellen Hayes, who said she “worked fairly closely with” Cain in the late 1990s, when she was an executive at the National Restaurant Association Education Fund, a Chicago-based offshoot of the group.
Cain’s treatment of women was “the same as his treatment of men. Herman treated everyone great,” said Mary Ann Cricchio, who was elected to the board of the restaurant group in 1998. She said Cain left such a good impression on the organization that when he spoke at a group event in January of this year, as he was considering a presidential bid, “he had unanimous support in the room.”

We know nothing about the accusers and the specifics of the accusations from a dozen years ago are reported rather vaguely by Politico: “episodes that left the women upset and offended” and “physical gestures that were not overtly sexual but that made women who experienced or witnessed them uncomfortable and that they regarded as improper in a professional relationship.”

All in all, it’s a long run for a short slide. Unless and until we have some specifics — including names, dates and places — my instinct is to agree with Gordon that this is “part of a smear campaign.”

Why are Cain’s enemies firing the thermonuclear component of their oppo-research arsenal so early? Generally speaking in such matters, you save your big stuff for later in the campaign.

UPDATE: A commenter reminds us of the Inept Elevator Nerd incident, which prompted Rebecca Watson to lecture her fellow atheists about how it “creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable when men sexualize me in that manner.” The basic problem is that, absent a court proceeding, “harassment” is an accusation impossible to refute. And if you can get tens of thousands of dollars in “go-away” money by making such an accusation, hell, why not?

UPDATE II: A female Republican operative who worked on Herman Cain’s 2004 Georgia Senate campaign scoffs at the accusations against him. “I don’t believe story that Cain behaved inappropriately,” wrote the woman, who uses the Twitter handle @KarolNYC. “He never even bordered on inappropriate in the slightest,” she Tweeted, and added that she “just can’t believe there’s anything to the charges.”

Cain’s supporters are furious and there is widespread suspicion that the Politico story was the result of opposition-research by Cain’s GOP rivals.

UPDATE III: Linked by Andrea Shea King, The Lonely Conservative, Maggie’s Notebook and Fire Andrea Mitchell — thanks!

Many women who know Cain are prepared to vouch for his character.

UPDATE IV: J.D. Gordon’s call-in to Geraldo didn’t go well:

UPDATE V: Thanks to the commenter who pointed out that on Friday, the Arizona state coordinator for the Rick Perry campaign Tweeted this:

This is (a) intriguing, but (b) not actually proof that the Perry campaign was dishing “oppo” on Cain. It so happens that I spoke by phone with Mrs. Bolick last year during a visit to Arizona with my blog buddy Barbara Espinosa. Mrs. Bolick is a nice lady, but we are left to wonder where she he might have heard about this “not pretty” opposition research.

UPDATE VI (Smitty): Linked by Ed Driscoll. Does it count as ‘First Blood’, though?

UPDATE VII (Smitty): More thoughts at ResCon1.

 

140 comments

  1. I’m still trying to figure out what physical gesture that was not explicitly sexual would make me uncomfortable. I may be oblivious – that’s more than possible, but, despite valiant cudgeling of my brain, I cannot come up with any gesture that qualifies.

  2. One explanation as to why so early could be because its coming from inside the camp of one of his Republican primary opponents. I smell the Perry camp for some strange reason, but I wouldn’t put it past the more overzealous supporters of any of them. Or, if its from the Democrats, it could be because they know there’s nothing to it, but it might serve to derail Cain’s campaign, the implication being they would rather face Romney or Perry than Cain.

  3. These accusations, at least as presented by Politico, do not even appear to rise to the level of the Inept Elevator Nerd’s crimes against feminism.

     

  5. I suspect it’s similar to “unwanted comments”, which usually means no more than that the person making said comments bore no resemblance to George Clooney.

  6. I head Juan Williams opine that HC isn’t even on the SD’s radar yet and couldn’t be responsible as they haven’t started their oppo-research on Cain yet. Of course this ignores that the Winston Smith Media is the SDs oppo-research. This is the same old unattributed third party smear that’s becoming the lefty presses’ stock in trade.

  8. I’m thinking this hit piece originated in Texas and was fed to Politico by someone who (mistakenly) thought he or his candidate would benefit from such a story.  The question is this:

    Was the culprit wearing a cowboy hat or a tin foil hat?

  11. And you probably wont settlements like this usually have confidentiality clauses. It sounds like pretty small potatoes and HC might have only been vaguely aware of it.

  12. My guess…nothing.  It seems that someone wants Cain out.  Now.  It could be rumors from our side  (so to speak) as well as the left. 

  13. Perry’s AZ coordinator was bragging on twitter 3 or 4 nights ago about the oppo they had on Cain that would knock him out of the race …I dont doubt for a second this is from Perry

  14. Actually the Dems are not that bright.  They truly think Cain is weaker than Romney or Perry (see there is not that much difference between Establishment Republicans and Democrats). 

    I suspect an over zealous supporter of Perry or Romney.  My gut says Perry, but I would not put it past Team Romney to try something like this. 

  16. Yeppers. I think it would benefit Romney – maybe make some Cain voters go to some other “not Romney” camp – further splitting the “not Romney” vote.

  17. I had too, it might interest you that when one googles “Inept Elevator Nerd’s crimes against feminism.” “Stirring the Feminist Cauldron” is the second entry.

  22. I don’t think Jim Messina or Matt Rhoades perceive Herman Cain as a threat. I think Rob Johnson does. If I had to guess where this is coming from that would be my bet.

  25. This has SCOAMF written all over it. I mean really, does anyone think that pulling an Anita Hill on Herman Cain would do anything but solidify his support? Heck, a lot of conservatives would have been suspicious if something like this hadn’t been tried!

  26. A pat on the back which made too much contact with the bra strap?

    Once, in ill-timed queue jumping, we ended up with the back of my secretary’s hand all up in my junk. But that made me uncomfortable.

  29. “episodes that left the women upset and offended” and “physical gestures
    that were not overtly sexual but that made women who experienced or
    witnessed them uncomfortable and that they regarded as improper in a
    professional relationship.”

    Well in one personal case it involved my opening, and holding open, a door for a female colleague.  Who then took the opportunity to harangue me right then and there about it.  And who then later on bitched at me for not holding open the same door when there was a downpour of summer rain that was a close cousin of a monsoon.

    Frankly these weasel words are so incredibly vague it could literally be anything.

  32. Oh, come on!  Don’t stick your hand in the crazy!

    This anonymous smear comes from Politico, a pro-Obama leftist propaganda machine.  Every single “allegation” is completely vague and leaves plenty of wiggle room against being sued.  It’s typical leftist tactics from a typical leftist source. 

    If someone on our side were the source, Politico is the last place they would trust with it – for good reason, because the hacks would burn their source at the most critical future moment.

    Sure, it’s possible – but so is the story being spelled out on Ben Smith’s car in bird droppings.  Neither are very plausible, and neither is the story.

  33. Again, more conspiracy theories about OUR guys when a hit piece comes from a place so far behind enemy lines as to stagger the imagination.

    Evidence, please, that it’s not a typical sourceless leftist smear like Anita Hill – who refused to testify under oath until her name was leaked and she was stuck with the story.

  34. Exactly.  Politico isn’t friendly enough to any of our guys to be trusted with it.  And it is typical leftist MO.

    When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.

  35. From Romney’s point of view Perry is THE threat surely he’s got to know that when one of the other candidates goes down their supporters go to one of the others not Romney. It almost appears as if Romney is only pretending to woo the other candidates supporters.

  36. How is all this baseless smearing of Romney, Perry, and/or unnamed “Republicans” any different than the anonymous hit piece on Cain by Politico?

    Evidence, please – unless you are saying that’s the sort of campaign YOU want to run and think is appropriate, in which case why whine about Politico when you are doing the same thing?

  37. People have been “accused of harassment” for keeping a picture of their
    wife in a bikini on their desk in their private office facing their
    chair.

    Unnamed sources from Politico, a known leftist propaganda
    organ whose principals were all involved in the Journ-O-List conspiracy
    to “manage” and “massage” the news to fit the liberal Narrative, don’t
    mean much.  Put someone with a name on it when you make serious
    allegations if you are a serious journalist.  Politico doesn’t because
    they aren’t journalists in any meaningful sense.

  39. Not if they’d appear to be nonsense in the first place. The contents of Ryan’s unsealed divorce papers was the kind of stuff that disqualified him in even the more socially liberal types of Republicans. For all we know Cain just called the wrong dingbat “darlin” or some such.

  40. We aren’t posing as legitimate news sources.  We are simply exercising our first amendment rights.  It’s not even close to the same thing.  In the world of politics, someone accuses you of something, you deny it if it’s not true (as Herman Cain has done.)  Let Romney and Perry deny they leaked it.  

  41. As you and I are the only two people who watched it, I doubt it. It’s possible that Cain doesn’t know all the details and is barred from commenting on what he did know. If I understand correctly HC didn’t wasn’t the directly the plaintiffs target but rather the National Restaurant Association and it is they who reached a settlement not Cain.

  42. And when you get hit in the nuts, think it’s one of the people you’re in a cage match with now, not the person you hope to be in a cage match with six months from now.

  45. This is too much like the hit against Clarence Thomas.  They can’t play the race card, so they throw down the “sex-crazed black man” card.  Anita Hill is doing quite well, now, BTW.  Also, very reminiscent of what was done to Sarah Palin.  Cain is getting too “real” looking, so out come the long knives.

    It will probably backfire, making him look like an even STRONGER candidate; sounds like he has boatloads of character references and “witnesses” to refute this one.  So far, at least, that is how it appears.

    Don’t fall for it.  Whether it came from Romney or Perry, or from the Democrat party Alinsky lemmings, doesn’t matter.  Not that I think Bachmann herself would pull this, but there are too many working for her on her campaign staff who would stoop this low – and she is the only other authentic TEA Party candidate…….but I doubt she would allow this. 

    Someone is afraid.  Very VERY afraid.

    IMHO, if it coming from the Republican side, and if it can be determined WHICH candidate started this, then that candidate is finished.

    This is exactly what people are sick of from politics; it will destroy the candidacy of anyone who “leaked” this, if it’s from inside the Republican camp.

  49. “Wouldn’t Redstate be the more logical outlet to hawk this to?”

    Not if you want plausible deniability.

    It just doesn’t strike me as something the Dems would be interested in.

    Let’s think about this:

    Obama is probably assuming he’ll be up against Romney, and is probably OK with that.

    But if he sat down and asked himself who he’d really prefer to run against, it would probably be a coin flip between Palin and Cain, because there would only be one debate, and that would be such a bloody fucking massacre that the GOP nominee would just go into hiding until after the first Tuesday in November, leaving Obama free for some autumn golf and maybe a weekend or two at Martha’s Vineyard instead of going through the motions of a campaign.

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