Herman Cain is rubber, you're glue. (Getty)
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain isn’t worried about the many sexual harassment allegations made against him. Mr. Cain told New York Post reporter Fred Dicker why doesn’t think the scandal will sink his White House bid during an interview on Mr. Dicker’s radio show “Live from the State Capitol.”
Mr. Cain was the frontrunner for the Republican nomination prior to reports he made inappropriate advances to multiple women during his time as head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990′s. Mr. Dicker asked him about polls that have shown he “may be slipping some amongst women because of the allegations that have been swirling out there.”
“There’s good news and bad news in that. The good news is only a minimal number of people have been influenced by the mere allegations, which created a little cloud over my head. In fact, I saw a poll this morning that said that 30 percent of the people, 30 percent polled, said that it impacted their opinion of me. That was to be expected but here’s the good news–I’m still right there at the top,” Mr. Cain said.
Mr. Cain is indeed still at the head of the Republican pack, but his numbers have dropped. He told Mr. Dicker he expects the scandal’s impact to diminish over time.
“It didn’t destroy my campaign. It may have put a cloud over it in some people’s mind, but I happen to believe that, as time goes by, and when people really sit back and think about–these were accusations that I faced and categorically denied. I think the reality is going to set in with a lot of people and, you know, further down the road, it’s not going to be as big of a deal as it is,” Mr. Cain explained.
Mr. Cain cited his fundraising success since the allegations surfaced as evidence he’s impervious to the taint of scandal.
“This is what’s so encouraging to me and my team, the day that the allegations broke, on a Monday, where it was the story of the day, that was the highest fundraising day in the history of the campaign since we started back in January when I announced my exploratory. And guess what, that whole week we had record fundraising days,” Mr. Cain said. “Sure some people were turned off, but the majority of my supporters–we’ve got new supporters because of this. Because it clearly was intended to get me off message, which I didn’t and to distract us, and we’ve dealt with it and we’re going to deal with it if it comes up again in the future.”
Mr. Cain believes most people “don’t care” about the accusations against him. In fact, if anything, he believes the news looked bad for the media rather than for him.
“They are also seeing this as a negative towards the media because, it’s as if the media wont let it go,” Mr. Cain said. “They don’t care, this is the whole point, because the people who are inside their bubble, they don’t know what the people are saying. … A lot of people that are writing stories from their cubicles, they don’t get it.”
Follow Hunter Walker on Twitter or via RSS. hwalker@observer.com
What a wonderful day yesterday was meeting Herman Cain, Mark Block and the other members of the Cain campaign staff! My first interaction occurred while I was standing in front of the Russian Tea Room holding my sign of support for Herman Cain. Mark Block and two campaign workers came out to have a cigarette. I followed them to where they were standing and introduced myself and we began talking. I told them about the tremendous volunteer army of Cain supporters hard at work in the social media and other arenas spreading the news about Herman Cain. Mark Block and the other two staff members (I can’t remember names-my bad) were very engaging and really interested in what I was telling them. They even took note of my twitter handle and are now following me. We spoke about 10-15 minutes before they had to return to the fundraiser.
My second interaction occurred when I was standing in front of Club 101 with my sign. Mark Block came outside and even remembered my name and we talked some more. While we were talking, Cathy Vasilikos a Cain supporter who was with me in front of the Tea Room earlier in the day, arrived. Mark Block asked us if we would like to meet Mr. Cain, and of course our answer was yes. He said once Mr. Cain arrived he would come out and get us. A short time later, another Cain supporter Jean arrived and joined Cathy and I waving our signs of support for Cain for the media camped out there. A little while later, the deputy campaign manager came out and brought us into Club 101. The campaign staff couldn’t have been nicer or more down to earth. They treated us like we were on the VIP list, which of course we were not. We met and talked with David Webb from Tea Party 365 and frequent FOX news guest, while we awaited Herman’s arrival. What a terrific guy David is!
After a short while, Herman Cain arrived. Before he went into the reception area, he greeted us. I asked him if I could give him a hug or would he be too afraid. Everyone laughed and then he said to me “of course you can give me a hug, you come right over here and give me a hug”. I gave him a great big bear hug and told him how sorry I was that he was being attacked in such a vicious manner. Then Cathy and Jean followed my lead in hugging Mr. Cain. Herman then offered to autograph our signs and asked one of his staff to take pictures for us. We all told him to keep fighting and not give up and he assured us he intended to do just that and off he went to the reception room. Mr. Cain, Mark Block and the rest of the staff were so down to earth, engaging and interested in hearing what we had to say. They really made us feel like we were the guests of honor and it wasn’t phony. These people are the epitome of everyday Americans and everyday Americans should get behind this campaign in a big way.
Now, onto the media we interacted with outside these fundraising events. There were 3 of us outside the Russian Tea Room with our signs: Martha Stein, Cathy Vasilikos, and me. Martha Stein was not yet a Herman Cain supporter for President (hopefully that will change), but she said she came because she was outraged by the smear campaign by the media. Martha is a true patriot who stands up for the truth and what is right. We were interviewed by various news outlets such as CBS, NBC, FOX, NY Post, NY Observer to name a few. Of course they only wanted to talk about the allegations leveled against Mr. Cain. I don’t think they got what they bargained for because all of us gave them an earful on the disgraceful behavior of the media and the complete lack of credibility of the accusers. We backed up our comments with facts and didn’t back down from them when they spouted the propaganda. I think they were shocked that we weren’t some “dingy dames” they could portray as nuts. I don’t know how they will chop up what we said to try and make us look bad, but so far I haven’t seen any video of us or print stories.
Now it’s time to dispel the myth that Herman Cain couldn’t possibly get any support from New Yorkers. As we stood on the street in front of the Russian Tea Room we had a chance to interact with many people on the street. There was the occasional liberal who stuck their tongue out at us, some shook their heads in disgust, and some even ran away as if the boggie man was after them. However, the overwhelming response of people walking by (of which there had to be several hundred over a 3 hour period) was one of support for Herman Cain. There were businessmen, construction workers, cab drivers, young people, middle-aged people and elderly from all walks of life, just average, everyday Americans. I even had a Hispanic woman from the Bronx ask me how she could get involved and told me that he had a lot of support amongst her community in the Bronx. She said there is a strong conservative base in the hispanic community and they are fed up with the media painting conservatives as anti-hispanic. She said the hispanic community who came to our country legally are fed up with the illegal invasion. She said they are taking away jobs from the people who played by the rules. I asked her if she would like to head up the volunteer effort in the Bronx and she said yes, so I’m going to get her hooked up. The three most common reasons people told us they supported Herman were the fact that he was a straight talker he’s a businessman and he wasn’t a politician. Regarding the allegations against Herman, the people we spoke to felt it was a smear campaign and gave them no credibility.
Yesterday was a terrific example of how ordinary Americans can do extraordinary things. It’s time to jump on the Cain Train and have your own excellent adventure spreading the good news about Herman Cain. Citizen journalist Lavars checking out for now and getting on with the business of making Herman Cain the next President of the United States.
What a wonderful day yesterday was meeting Herman Cain, Mark Block and the other members of the Cain campaign staff! My first interaction occurred while I was standing in front of the Russian Tea Room holding my sign of support for Herman Cain. Mark Block and two campaign workers came out to have a cigarette. I followed them to where they were standing and introduced myself and we began talking. I told them about the tremendous volunteer army of Cain supporters hard at work in the social media and other arenas spreading the news about Herman Cain. Mark Block and the other two staff members (I can’t remember names-my bad) were very engaging and really interested in what I was telling them. They even took note of my twitter handle and are now following me. We spoke about 10-15 minutes before they had to return to the fundraiser.
My second interaction occurred when I was standing in front of Club 101 with my sign. Mark Block came outside and even remembered my name and we talked some more. While we were talking, Cathy Vasilikos a Cain supporter who was with me in front of the Tea Room earlier in the day, arrived. Mark Block asked us if we would like to meet Mr. Cain, and of course our answer was yes. He said once Mr. Cain arrived he would come out and get us. A short time later, another Cain supporter Jean arrived and joined Cathy and I waving our signs of support for Cain for the media camped out there. A little while later, the deputy campaign manager came out and brought us into Club 101. The campaign staff couldn’t have been nicer or more down to earth. They treated us like we were on the VIP list, which of course we were not. We met and talked with David Webb from Tea Party 365 and frequent FOX news guest, while we awaited Herman’s arrival. What a terrific guy David is!
After a short while, Herman Cain arrived. Before he went into the reception area, he greeted us. I asked him if I could give him a hug or would he be too afraid. Everyone laughed and then he said to me “of course you can give me a hug, you come right over here and give me a hug”. I gave him a great big bear hug and told him how sorry I was that he was being attacked in such a vicious manner. Then Cathy and Jean followed my lead in hugging Mr. Cain. Herman then offered to autograph our signs and asked one of his staff to take pictures for us. We all told him to keep fighting and not give up and he assured us he intended to do just that and off he went to the reception room. Mr. Cain, Mark Block and the rest of the staff were so down to earth, engaging and interested in hearing what we had to say. They really made us feel like we were the guests of honor and it wasn’t phony. These people are the epitome of everyday Americans and everyday Americans should get behind this campaign in a big way.
Now, onto the media we interacted with outside these fundraising events. There were 3 of us outside the Russian Tea Room with our signs: Martha Stein, Cathy Vasilikos, and me. Martha Stein was not yet a Herman Cain supporter for President (hopefully that will change), but she said she came because she was outraged by the smear campaign by the media. Martha is a true patriot who stands up for the truth and what is right. We were interviewed by various news outlets such as CBS, NBC, FOX, NY Post, NY Observer to name a few. Of course they only wanted to talk about the allegations leveled against Mr. Cain. I don’t think they got what they bargained for because all of us gave them an earful on the disgraceful behavior of the media and the complete lack of credibility of the accusers. We backed up our comments with facts and didn’t back down from them when they spouted the propaganda. I think they were shocked that we weren’t some “dingy dames” they could portray as nuts. I don’t know how they will chop up what we said to try and make us look bad, but so far I haven’t seen any video of us or print stories.
Now it’s time to dispel the myth that Herman Cain couldn’t possibly get any support from New Yorkers. As we stood on the street in front of the Russian Tea Room we had a chance to interact with many people on the street. There was the occasional liberal who stuck their tongue out at us, some shook their heads in disgust, and some even ran away as if the boggie man was after them. However, the overwhelming response of people walking by (of which there had to be several hundred over a 3 hour period) was one of support for Herman Cain. There were businessmen, construction workers, cab drivers, young people, middle-aged people and elderly from all walks of life, just average, everyday Americans. I even had a Hispanic woman from the Bronx ask me how she could get involved and told me that he had a lot of support amongst her community in the Bronx. She said there is a strong conservative base in the hispanic community and they are fed up with the media painting conservatives as anti-hispanic. She said the hispanic community who came to our country legally are fed up with the illegal invasion. She said they are taking away jobs from the people who played by the rules. I asked her if she would like to head up the volunteer effort in the Bronx and she said yes, so I’m going to get her hooked up. The three most common reasons people told us they supported Herman were the fact that he was a straight talker he’s a businessman and he wasn’t a politician. Regarding the allegations against Herman, the people we spoke to felt it was a smear campaign and gave them no credibility.
Yesterday was a terrific example of how ordinary Americans can do extraordinary things. It’s time to jump on the Cain Train and have your own excellent adventure spreading the good news about Herman Cain. Citizen journalist Lavars checking out for now and getting on with the business of making Herman Cain the next President of the United States.