The republican establishment would have been smart to rally round Cain during this episode. But they’re not smart.
IMHO, what we’re seeing is the battle between the upstart tea party and the GOP establishment play out.
Had Michele Bachmann or Ron Paul shown the same numbers that Cain has, they’d be getting the same treatment.
There really is a fight going on to see who will control the party.
The GOP establishment didn’t like the fact that so many GOP establishment candidates lost to “tea party” candidates in the 2010 primaries. Even though the majority of the tea partiers went on to win in the general election, the loss of control by the establishment is what they worry about.
It seems we’re in for a repeat of the 1964 election, where the GOP establishment decided it would rather throw the electiion to the Democrats rather than support an outsider (Goldwater).