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Third Woman Accuses Cain; Camp Blames Perry
Date: Thursday, November 03, 2011, 6:30 am
By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain wipes his brow as he speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
The right wing is starting to eat its young.
GOP presidential contender Herman Cain's campaign is seeking to tie Texas Gov. Rick Perry to leaks that the Republican presidential candidate allegedly sexually harassed women while he was head of the National Restaurant Association.
While the right certainly knows how to line up commentators for the talk show circuit - all in sync with its talking points – and takes good care of its own, it has got its work cut out for it, now that a third woman has come forward to say she, too, was sexually harassed by Cain when she worked for the association.
The woman told the Associated Press that Cain told her that he had confided to colleagues how attractive she was and invited her to his corporate apartment outside work. She decided against filing a complaint because she began having fewer interactions with Cain, she said. Later, she learned that a co-worker — one of the two women whose accusations have rocked Cain's campaign — already had done so. She said she would have felt she had to file otherwise.
Cain's third accuser was located and approached by the AP as part of its investigation into harassment complaints against Cain that were disclosed in recent days and have thrown his presidential campaign into turmoil. She spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying she feared losing her current job and the possibility of damage to her reputation.
But the Cain campaign is portraying the latest allegations as trumped up charges aimed at bringing down the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza because his message is catching on with the American public. The blame is being placed at the feet of Perry, who came into the GOP race on fire, then quickly flamed out – falling to Cain, who had risen to the top of the polls.
Cain’s chief of staff Mark Block told Fox News Wednesday that “Rick Perry needs to apologize to Herman Cain and, quite frankly, to America.”
Block cited another story in which a Perry-connected pollster said he witnessed a sexual harassment-type incident at a DC-area restaurant with Cain back when he was CEO of the National Restaurant Association.
According to Talking Points Memo, Cain “debuted the charge Wednesday afternoon in an interview with Forbes in which he claimed a former consultant for his 1994 Senate campaign who now works for Perry knew about the past allegations and told Team Perry, which then told the press.”
“It doesn’t sound good; it doesn’t smell good, but it doesn’t” automatically mean Cain is guilty, attorney Joseph Cammarata told Fox 5 news in Washington, D.C.
Cammarata said he saw similarities in the way Cain has handled the allegations – changing aspects of the story as new information emerged – with the way former President Bill Clinton handled the Paula Jones scandal, in which a woman claimed that Clinton had state troopers guarding Clinton bring Jones to his hotel room while he was governor of Arkansas.
(In 1998, Clinton agreed to settle and pay $700,000, but Jones wanted an apology. Eventually she accepted an $850,000 settlement. Later, Jones said she believed she was used as a political pawn by conservatives who were out to bring down Clinton.)
But beyond that, Cammarata said, “It’s important to be careful before we rush to judgment” because specific details about the allegations have yet to be released.
The two women who settled with the restaurant association signed confidentiality agreements.
Meanwhile, Cain supporters and some Republican operatives have been on the attack against what they see as a vast left-wing conspiracy.
And ethics be damned.
According to Media Matters, among those defending Herman Cain in the wake of reports that he was the target of sexual harassment claims was Fox News political analyst Dick Morris, who has sent out several emails to his list "paid for" by the Cain campaign.
The nonprofit progressive research firm, which monitors and analyzes conservative media claims, also put together a list of conservative pundits who engaged in “race-baiting” as part of the Cain defense strategy and breaks them down into categories, depending on the angle pursued.
The first group, including Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Brent Bozell, focused on badgering liberals, accusing them of being afraid of intelligent black conservatives and suggesting Cain was being targeted because he was black.
The next group, which also included Sean Hannity and Matt Drudge, took the position that the right-wing media correctly predicted that Cain would be subjected to a “high-tech lynching,” and found parallels to Clarence Thomas’ complaint when allegations of sexual harassment arose against him during his confirmation hearings.
Also interesting is that Fox News personality Greta Van Susteren hosted Cain to allow him to respond to sexual harassment allegations against him, but at no point noted that her husband, influential Washington lawyer John Coale, was a “friend” and supporter of Cain and had indicated some time ago he would most likely back Cain's campaign if Sarah Palin decided not to run. Coale also had been linked with helping Palin launch Sarah PAC, which allowed her to raise (and then keep) money while weighing whether she would run for the presidency.
Meanwhile, Media Matters reported, over the past few months, Morris has conducted a series of softball interviews with Herman Cain and fellow presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann. At least eight of the emails to Morris' mailing list promoting the Cain interviews have been "paid for" by the Cain campaign. (Morris has sent an additional two emails promoting Bachmann's interviews that were "paid for" by the Bachmann campaign.)
Each of the emails promoting the Cain interviews includes a note from Morris hyping the conversation, and most include an appeal to "please forward this email to any family or friends who are Cain supporters or would like to learn more about him."
Hours before his Monday appearance defending Cain on Fox, Morris sent out two emails to his list "paid for" by Cain's campaign. One was a direct fundraising appeal from Cain, which was introduced by Morris as "a special message from our paid sponsor."
Date: Thursday, November 03, 2011, 6:30 am
By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain wipes his brow as he speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
The right wing is starting to eat its young.
GOP presidential contender Herman Cain's campaign is seeking to tie Texas Gov. Rick Perry to leaks that the Republican presidential candidate allegedly sexually harassed women while he was head of the National Restaurant Association.
While the right certainly knows how to line up commentators for the talk show circuit - all in sync with its talking points – and takes good care of its own, it has got its work cut out for it, now that a third woman has come forward to say she, too, was sexually harassed by Cain when she worked for the association.
The woman told the Associated Press that Cain told her that he had confided to colleagues how attractive she was and invited her to his corporate apartment outside work. She decided against filing a complaint because she began having fewer interactions with Cain, she said. Later, she learned that a co-worker — one of the two women whose accusations have rocked Cain's campaign — already had done so. She said she would have felt she had to file otherwise.
Cain's third accuser was located and approached by the AP as part of its investigation into harassment complaints against Cain that were disclosed in recent days and have thrown his presidential campaign into turmoil. She spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying she feared losing her current job and the possibility of damage to her reputation.
But the Cain campaign is portraying the latest allegations as trumped up charges aimed at bringing down the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza because his message is catching on with the American public. The blame is being placed at the feet of Perry, who came into the GOP race on fire, then quickly flamed out – falling to Cain, who had risen to the top of the polls.
Cain’s chief of staff Mark Block told Fox News Wednesday that “Rick Perry needs to apologize to Herman Cain and, quite frankly, to America.”
Block cited another story in which a Perry-connected pollster said he witnessed a sexual harassment-type incident at a DC-area restaurant with Cain back when he was CEO of the National Restaurant Association.
According to Talking Points Memo, Cain “debuted the charge Wednesday afternoon in an interview with Forbes in which he claimed a former consultant for his 1994 Senate campaign who now works for Perry knew about the past allegations and told Team Perry, which then told the press.”
“It doesn’t sound good; it doesn’t smell good, but it doesn’t” automatically mean Cain is guilty, attorney Joseph Cammarata told Fox 5 news in Washington, D.C.
Cammarata said he saw similarities in the way Cain has handled the allegations – changing aspects of the story as new information emerged – with the way former President Bill Clinton handled the Paula Jones scandal, in which a woman claimed that Clinton had state troopers guarding Clinton bring Jones to his hotel room while he was governor of Arkansas.
(In 1998, Clinton agreed to settle and pay $700,000, but Jones wanted an apology. Eventually she accepted an $850,000 settlement. Later, Jones said she believed she was used as a political pawn by conservatives who were out to bring down Clinton.)
But beyond that, Cammarata said, “It’s important to be careful before we rush to judgment” because specific details about the allegations have yet to be released.
The two women who settled with the restaurant association signed confidentiality agreements.
Meanwhile, Cain supporters and some Republican operatives have been on the attack against what they see as a vast left-wing conspiracy.
And ethics be damned.
According to Media Matters, among those defending Herman Cain in the wake of reports that he was the target of sexual harassment claims was Fox News political analyst Dick Morris, who has sent out several emails to his list "paid for" by the Cain campaign.
The nonprofit progressive research firm, which monitors and analyzes conservative media claims, also put together a list of conservative pundits who engaged in “race-baiting” as part of the Cain defense strategy and breaks them down into categories, depending on the angle pursued.
The first group, including Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Brent Bozell, focused on badgering liberals, accusing them of being afraid of intelligent black conservatives and suggesting Cain was being targeted because he was black.
The next group, which also included Sean Hannity and Matt Drudge, took the position that the right-wing media correctly predicted that Cain would be subjected to a “high-tech lynching,” and found parallels to Clarence Thomas’ complaint when allegations of sexual harassment arose against him during his confirmation hearings.
Also interesting is that Fox News personality Greta Van Susteren hosted Cain to allow him to respond to sexual harassment allegations against him, but at no point noted that her husband, influential Washington lawyer John Coale, was a “friend” and supporter of Cain and had indicated some time ago he would most likely back Cain's campaign if Sarah Palin decided not to run. Coale also had been linked with helping Palin launch Sarah PAC, which allowed her to raise (and then keep) money while weighing whether she would run for the presidency.
Meanwhile, Media Matters reported, over the past few months, Morris has conducted a series of softball interviews with Herman Cain and fellow presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann. At least eight of the emails to Morris' mailing list promoting the Cain interviews have been "paid for" by the Cain campaign. (Morris has sent an additional two emails promoting Bachmann's interviews that were "paid for" by the Bachmann campaign.)
Each of the emails promoting the Cain interviews includes a note from Morris hyping the conversation, and most include an appeal to "please forward this email to any family or friends who are Cain supporters or would like to learn more about him."
Hours before his Monday appearance defending Cain on Fox, Morris sent out two emails to his list "paid for" by Cain's campaign. One was a direct fundraising appeal from Cain, which was introduced by Morris as "a special message from our paid sponsor."
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