A stark assessment of Herman Cain’s chances from an Iowan congressman
Earlier this month, U.S Rep. Steve King, a Republican from the all-important state of Iowa, declared that the women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment several weeks ago were probable “liberal activists” and “official hyperventilaters of the first order.”
My AJC colleague Daniel Malloy in Washington ran into King today – and he sounded much less certain. Said King:
”There’s been a series of these and by now it surely has to be shutting off or shutting down the fundraising that’s coming to Herman Cain. And whether or not the allegations are true, it looks to me like it’s going to be very hard for him to be able to breathe life back into this campaign. That is it. You like to think the facts on this can come out, and come out right away, and people can look at the truth and make an objective decision.
“They’re asking questions and just that, asking questions, has diminished the momentum of his campaign. I don’t want to give advice to a man who’s carried the race this far, and I’ll say this: Herman Cain went to the top of the polls out of his personal likability. The people that I know that like him – and I happen to be one of them – like him a lot personally. And when you get down to that point where you’re trying to select one person out of those 300 million Americans it’s a pretty tough hill to climb anyway. And now he’s got more luggage to tote than anybody else in the race right now and that’s really tough.”
Malloy asked King whether the number of women who have come forward gave him pause. Answered the Iowa congressman:
”Even if I thought they were of no consequence, others don’t. And I don’t know. I don’t know and I don’t want to be judgmental but I know there are a whole body of people out there that are making decisions, and it’s got to come together in just a little more than a month in Iowa — so the timing of it is such that, if this were a race that went on another six months or so, perhaps there’s a way to bring this all out and shine the light on everything and bring it out as the truth.
“But I don’t see how there’s time for that right now. So I just feel badly for Herman. And America is a strange animal, the politics of this all. And you watch the dynamics of this race. It doesn’t feel like any other. … The same time this is going on in the Cain campaign, you’ve got Mitt Romney making a commitment to try to win Iowa.
“So that changes – both of those two things change the dynamics in Iowa to some degree and I’ll say a significant degree in both of them. Things are not coming clear for a lot of conservatives in the state.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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73 comments Add your comment
clem
November 30th, 2011
8:21 am
if herman knows the economy better then someone told him….just like someone tells obama…..and my guess is armed with the facts obama would make better decisions 60% of the time
Mark
November 30th, 2011
8:22 am
@ td…HELL YES!
td
November 30th, 2011
8:28 am
honested
November 30th, 2011
8:13 am
And anyone that wants to deny that the welfare state is a complete failure, denying that we must reform entitlement programs, denys that the big Federal government can not solve our problems, denys that there are radical Muslims have declared war against us and will not stop until we are no longer a nation do not deserve to be President.
td
November 30th, 2011
8:34 am
Mark
November 30th, 2011
8:22 am
Well I guess we all know now that you believe in European Socialism over Capitalism? You believe government is the solution to our problems instead of the free markets? You believe that people should not be held accountable for the decisions they make in life?
Bill Orvis White
November 30th, 2011
8:36 am
There’s no reason why Herman should drop. Herman has been seriously damaged by the Left-Wing Noise/Lie Machine. This White lady (no relation thank the Lord Almighty) is a secular-progressive hack who has a long history of starting trouble. I wouldn’t be surprised if this “lady” was created courtesy of liberal George Soros.
When will you liberals out there understand that WE NEED Herman Cain in the White House? This is a real man with real solutions to repair the real damage created by Hussein Obama and his band of criminal thugs.
I pray for Herman Cain almost every minute of the day. This man is the answer to our problems and I just cannot believe that the secular media is getting its way by destroying a qualified candidate for the president of this once-free nation. We need to remove this Marxist from the White House who refuses to acknowledge God and the FACT THAT THE UNITED STATES IS EXCEPTIONAL NATION!
Amen,
Bill
Bill
November 30th, 2011
8:37 am
Dave, Pewter,
Why don’t you two just take it out in the alley, and leave the rest of us in (relative) peace.
Rock me like a Herman Cain
November 30th, 2011
8:40 am
I loves it. Malloy says “I don’t want to be judgmental” — after he’s been judgmental.
Oh, and I did not have settlements with that woman(s).
Bill
November 30th, 2011
8:41 am
TD,
European socialism vs capitalism
Government vs free markets
These are false dichotomies. It is not a choice between socialism (which is actually the middle ground) and capitalism. It is not a choice of government vs free markets. None of these are mutually exclusive and extremes in any of these directions are harmful. The real question is how much of each we want.
cartoon
November 30th, 2011
8:54 am
Vote For Cain.
Cain 2012: Because poontang ain’t what it once was. Am I right?
Jimmy the Cricket
November 30th, 2011
9:02 am
I gotta hand it to old NEWTie (you lil sly b*stard) for paying that whytte woman $100,000 to spill the beans on her 13-year sexfest with old coonhead.
Now she’ll be able to afford Dunwoody… NEWTie’s a genius!!!
Real Athens
November 30th, 2011
9:11 am
Look before you leap:
“Clinton … had he been impeached, it is very likely that Gore wins in 2000 and again in 2004. NO Dubya, No Iran war and possibly no economic collapse in 2008.”
News flash: Clinton was impeached:
Where do these people come from?
Ol' Timer
November 30th, 2011
9:17 am
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” ~ Ol’ William
Frederick Douglass
November 30th, 2011
9:39 am
Rich T
Did you have any problems with this country electing a recovering substance abuser, one that hid in the national guard when he needed to be actively serving? It’s also widely known that John McCain is verbally abusive to his spouse, yet many were chomping at the bit to elect him. As for Bill Ayres, I think it’s a feather in Obama’s cap that he didn’t hold anything against a man that did something wrong when Obama was seven years old. People need to think over some of the things that their pastors say in their sermons on Sunday mornings, I’ll bet a lot of it is as incindiary as Rev. Wright’s, and besides, Obama didn’t write his sermons.
Nick
November 30th, 2011
9:45 am
@ Fredrick Douglass
You waste your time trying to explain things to people like Rich. They can and will blame Obama for anything. Anyone who seriously compares cheating on your wife to what church you attended has some serious delusions.
clem
November 30th, 2011
9:49 am
anyone who pays 60k to gingrich for a speech has got to be dumber than a stump, not to mention all the money the right has thrown at hucsters like palin, huckaby, trump
What
November 30th, 2011
9:56 am
It’s not about our country anymore, it is just about making money.
clem
November 30th, 2011
10:14 am
instead of surtax on millionaires, they should go back (i know it is impractical), but get every cent of bonus money for wall st folks and mortgage lenders, underwriting execs, etc…
good to see judge tell citi to stick it in its ear recently…
James M
November 30th, 2011
12:39 pm
Nearly half the registered voters are too young to have voted for Clinton in his first term. Don’t let that make you feel old, but it’s why the “But Clinton!” strategy doesn’t really work. You might as well be talking about Truman or Eisenhower. Saying “the left” supported Ted Kennedy doesn’t mean anything, because you are referring to totally different people from the ones you want to address. Today’s voters, if they are even old enough to remember a young Ted Kennedy, don’t think of him as politically relevant. Besides all that, addressing “the left” does absolutely nothing to affect the Republican election that starts in a few days (January 10th is the date to mark on your calendar. If Cain makes a strong showing there, we’ll talk.)
Justin
November 30th, 2011
3:01 pm
@ td
November 30th, 2011
8:02 am
This is for all you libs that believe this woman’s accusations are true. This woman has alleged that she has had a continuous 13 year affair with Cain that ended 4 months ago. If you go back and know anything about Cain then you know that he has just finished a 4 year battle with stage 4 cancer. To believe this women then you would have to believe that Herman was getting treatment and fighting for his life at the same time was trying to make a living by giving speeches and had the time and energy to make arrangements to have this woman transported all over the country to have an affair. Is this really believable? I want to hear some of you tell me that this woman’s claims are still creditable with knowing these other facts?
We all know of your hatred for Democrats because you display it EVERY day! You are always crying “The Libs this and The Libs that”. Have you ever stopped to think how many Conservatives actually believe that Herman is guilty. Do your self a favor and stop all the constant partisan crap and open your eyes to your own party. I’m going to laugh my ass off if it ever comes out that Newt or Romney are the ones behind the original allegations!
Look before I leap...
November 30th, 2011
3:45 pm
@Real Athens
You are correct, I misspoke – meant to say “removed from office”.
You can pat yourself on the back for the quibble of the day since the distinction was in no way germane to my point.
R
November 30th, 2011
6:17 pm
PEWTER and GaBlue
By all means please continue to post in support of OBAMA, your positions graphically display the logic used by those who would champion him far better than any debate ever could.
BILLY MAYS HERE
November 30th, 2011
6:57 pm
Don’t reply to TD, idiots.
BILLY MAYS HERE
November 30th, 2011
6:58 pm
Frederick Douglass
November 30th, 2011
6:47 am
Now that the dust is clearing on Herman Cain’s failed run at the White House, it would be wise to analyze the man’s effects on his people. Through 300 years of struggle in this country, from Crispus Attucks to MLK, black people have fought and died to eke out a respectable niche in this land, then along comes Cain. Cain, a man that sat out the civil rights movement on advisement from his father, Cain, a man that delivered withering dialogue against the first black president from his forum on WSB, and Cain, the guy that hitched his wagon to the Tea Party. I cringe every time some idiot suggests that this man would’ve swayed other blacks to follow him to the GOP, what an insult. This guy that thumbed his nose at the modest gains of a downtrodden people, has managed to set those same people back about 50 years in some people’s minds.
lol… they’re the same people who said that blacks voted for Obama just because he’s black and that they are “The Real Racists.” It’s trite to say, but I don’t know if I should laugh or cry at them.