Nothing will sink him among his fans, because he has made this very personal and all about him. His whole appeal, in fact, is personal and and not rational. But this will certainly not apply to the broader spectrum of voters, and the “base” alone cannot elect a candidate.
Cain needed to answer the charges honestly and immediately, rather than the usual “I don’t recall” defense, followed by piecemeal admissions, followed by the revelation that he had actually had to discuss this issue with his advisors during his last run for political office, and finally followed by attacks on the press and even direct unsubstantiated attacks other candidates for “leaking” the whole thing. These are not the actions of anybody who is ready for elective office.
Another thing we have to remember is that it honestly doesn’t matter if Obama got a pass on everything from the press and those theoretically vetting the candidates. No GOPer will ever be given a pass, and that’s just how it is. So our candidates had better be prepared for this.
There are significant issues that need to be addressed with Cain. Yet all of a sudden you see Freepers behaving like Dems: shoot the messenger, my candidate right or wrong, affirmative action isn’t really that bad after all, what’s a little sexual harrassment, the women probably liked it, why should he have to explain anything, he’s really the victim in this...well, it can go and on. Meanwhile, Obama is sitting in the WH buffing his fingernails.
And your alternative is??
This is not about cult like following of Cain. We see his potential and real faults. But too often we kill our own because they are good and not perfect. Why scrutinize everything imperfect about him when Cain 2.0 is not waiting in the wings to save us?
Don’t you get it? Dems get the candidate they want because they say “So?” (and because the mainstream covers their flaws). So what if our guy killed a girl? They don’t care.
We care, but we have no alternative. It’s imperfect Cain, a real, smart conservative outsider, or Romney!