Compare the response of Cain to a known guilty party (Clinton).
Then look in Hillary's eyes and the eyes of Cain's wife.
Then look at Mr. Kitty-Whipped from Texas. Lady Macbeth is willing to savage anyone to get her turn at being first lady, eh?
Cheers!
The real issues I have experienced in life regarding my own bad choices as a juvenile were these:
1) People make a deal about something you already paid the due penalty for, in other words, they do anything to argue that you aren’t pure. If this is true for Herman Cain, such as paying the accusing party off from a lawsuit a long time ago, then the accusing party needs to drop it, and forgive. It’s also a plus if Cain forgives. However, it’s also generally hypocritical on the side of the other party as well. I committed some crimes as a juvenile, but I pulled my act together after that, served due time, and also was among the lucky few who made a decent rebound when I could have turned toward far more serious crimes. I would argue this more than anything else. It also almost always turns out to be hypocritical on the accusing party when they go for the “moral purity” argument, as they often don’t sincerely care about morality as part of their accusations in the first place.
2) Let’s say you’re guilty and you have not paid the due penalty, well, you can pay off the due parties and show that clearly you are the more mature one should that not satisfy them.
3) Let’s say you’re actually innocent, and someone is just smearing you, well, you can state and show how much evidence the other side has, give your case, and show that you can take the insults that get thrown along your way in the mean time.
This situation is a make or break for Cain, if he can argue that #1 or #2 applies, it shows some maturity on his part, and it works well for showing how suitable or unsuitable of a candidate he is for our votes, if not, then the ravages of both sides of the political spectrum have chosen their more fit.
As for baggage, Newt Gingrich has plenty of that, so as for who could have motives to smear who, it works either way. If you can narrow it down to those you can easily smear out of the race in the general election, it’s an easy shot.