Herman Cain made it official this afternoon: he is suspending his campaign. Just to be clear, the reason he suspended his campaign rather than ending it is so he can still get federal matching funds. The campaign will never be resumed,however; it is over.
It was a sad thing to watch the Cain departure play out. Even today, after a month of non-stop allegations against Cain, there is still no real proof of any wrongdoing by him other than the word of five women -- two of whom are still anonymous. Even the latest and greatest of the allegations, the claim of a thirteen year affair, had little to back it up. We are supposed to believe that after 13 years, the women claiming the affair had no pictures of herself with Cain, no presents from Cain other than two books with inscriptions that one could get at a book signing, and no indication that she had told any of her friends of her purported affair with Cain. That just does not seem credible to me. Can a public figure as popular as Cain was get destroyed just by allegations that have little or no support? It is a sad commentary on our political system if the answer is yes.
Cain, of course, did more than just endure the allegations; he and his team mis-handled them. We heard from the Cain team that the allegations came from Perry. Then they did not. Then the allegations came from the Democrats. Then they did not. In the middle of the mess, Cain was distracted in the debates about foreign policy so that his lack of knowledge in this field shone through. Then there was the Libya mess in Milwaukee. In other words, Cain was a willing participant in the destruction of his own campaign.
Still, Herman Cain brought a lot of life and energy to the campaign. He had provocative ideas that he sold with great ability. He contributed much to the election campaign and he will be missed. I am sorry to see him go.
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