By Julie Hirschfeld Davis - Nov 30, 2011 7:15 AM GMT+0700
Herman Cain told senior aides he is reassessing his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination following allegations that he had a 13-year extramarital affair with an Atlanta woman.
Cain, 65, said he would decide over the “next several days” whether to “plow ahead,” according to a transcript of a staff conference call posted online by the National Review, which said it was on the five-minute call.
One aide who participated said Cain began the call by denying the allegation of an affair, leveled yesterday by Ginger White in an interview with the Atlanta-based television station Fox 5, and said it nonetheless called for a “reassessment” of his bid. Still, Cain indicated that the campaign would go forward, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid publicly detailing internal discussions.
“We have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud, in some people’s minds, as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth,” Cain told his staff, according to the transcript. “If a decision is made different than to plow ahead, you all will be the first to know.”
‘Back on Message’
J.D. Gordon, the campaign’s communications director, said Cain’s team was “looking forward to getting back on message tonight” with a speech the candidate gave on foreign policy at a college in Hillsdale, Michigan. Gordon discounted the significance of the call to aides today, saying Cain “told staff simply that, just as every time significant events occur, a reassessment is prudent.”
In a fundraising letter Cain sent out today, he referred to White as “a troubled Atlanta businesswoman” who “used national media outlets to promulgate a fabricated, unsubstantiated story” that they had an affair. “I am writing you today to assure you that this woman’s story is completely false,” he said.
He also told supporters “I am not deterred,” and that “we will continue on this journey to make America great once again.”
In his Michigan speech, Cain made no mention of the affair allegation as he pressed his case for a foreign policy based on “peace through strength and clarity.”
Canceled Dinner
Earlier in the day, he told an adviser to cancel a private dinner scheduled for Dec. 4 in New York with some of the city’s journalists and politicians in case he dropped out of the presidential race, according to cable news network NY1. The dinner was to be hosted by New York Post columnist Cindy Adams, the report said.
The former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive was scheduled to travel to Ohio for rallies tomorrow, continuing his practice of spending time in states that hold no sway in the early voting in the Republican race.
White said in the interview broadcast yesterday that Cain had treated her to lavish meals and stays at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Atlanta’s Buckhead district during an on-and-off affair that began after the two met in Louisville, Kentucky, in the late 1990s and ended only eight months ago.
‘Inappropriate’
“It wasn’t complicated, and I was aware that he was married, and I was also aware that I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship,” White said in the television interview.
White said that while she had been reluctant to reveal the affair, Cain’s indignant denials of recent sexual harassment allegations against him by four other women persuaded her to go public. Cain has denied the harassment claims.
Lin Wood, Cain’s Atlanta-based attorney, said in an interview that the candidate isn’t thinking of abandoning the presidential campaign.
“It would be premature to say he is contemplating” a withdrawal, said Wood, who said he talked with Cain last night.
A reassessment of the “present situation” in the wake of White’s story is reasonable, Wood said, and “to translate that to withdraw from the race is not the right conclusion to draw.”
Wood also said Cain had given White money after she sent him a text message saying she couldn’t pay her rent. Wood didn’t say how much money Cain has given her.
‘Friendship’
During the call with his staff today, Cain described his tie to White as “just a friendship relationship,” and he told CNN yesterday that he was trying to help her because she didn’t have a job.
Once vying for front-runner status in the Republican race, Cain slipped to third place in a national poll released last week by Quinnipiac University. The poll showed Cain with 14 percent of the vote, trailing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
A Bloomberg Poll conducted Nov. 10-12 in Iowa, where caucuses on Jan. 3 begin the nomination process, indicated Gingrich would be positioned to benefit most among Republican presidential primary contenders if Cain were to end his bid. Cain was in a four-way tie for the lead with Gingrich, Romney and Texas Representative Ron Paul among likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers, the survey found. Gingrich led as the second choice among voters who chose Cain as their favorite, drawing backing from 28 percent, five percentage points better than Texas Governor Rick Perry, who drew 23 percent.
A separate Bloomberg Poll at the same time in New Hampshire, home of the first primary on Jan. 10, found that more than a third of Cain’s supporters shift to Gingrich as their second choice, while Romney attracts more than a quarter.
‘Very Painful’
Gingrich, campaigning today in Bluffton, South Carolina, told reporters “this must be a very painful period” for Cain and his family. Gingrich also said: “He has to make a decision that he thinks is appropriate.”
Michele Bachmann, another Republican presidential contender, said of the latest allegation confronting Cain: “Clearly, it’s not helpful for his campaign.”
Asked if Cain should exit the race, the Minnesota congresswoman said on CNN today, “That’s not for me to say.”
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. told the Boston Globe in an interview that Cain should consider dropping his bid. Huntsman, who is focusing his White House quest on a strong showing in New Hampshire, said the string of accusations against Cain is distracting from the substantive topics that should mark a presidential contest.
“Given the bandwidth that has been taken out of the discussion of any other issues pertinent to this campaign, a reconsideration might be in order,” Huntsman said.
Cain has been married to his wife, Gloria, for 43 years. In an interview with Fox News after the harassment charges emerged about a month ago, Gloria Cain said she didn’t think her husband was capable of such behavior.
“I seriously, in my soul, don’t think he’s that type of person,” she said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Washington at or Jdavis159@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva@bloomberg.net
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