Posted on 11/03/2011 8:28:07 PM PDT by smoothsailing
Justin Sink
November 3, 2011
Herman Cain said Forbes Magazine - and not his campaign - was responsible for the concluding that Rick Perry's campaign leaked the story of sexual harassment allegations during Cain's tenure as the president of the National Restaurant Association.
"A reporter did this research and came up with these facts, we didn't," Cain said Thursday on Sean Hannity's radio show. "That was the reporter that wrote the report for Forbes."
But despite adamant denials from the Perry camp, Cain said he still doesn't "see any other way this could have come out."
The Forbes article, headlined "Cain Says Perry Camp Behind Sex Harassment Leak," quoted the candidate as saying that he told former staffer Curt Anderson, now a consultant for the Perry campaign, about the allegations. But Cain is not quoted specifically accusing Anderson of being the leak.
The Cain campaign quickly seized on the article Wednesday night, seemingly validating Forbes' reporting that Cain was laying blame at Perry's feet.
"Rick Perry needs to apologize to Herman Cain, his family, and America for this despicable story," Cain's chief of staff Mark Block said Wednesday on Fox News.
Anderson has denied the accusations, saying in a statement: "I have great respect for Herman and his character and I would never speak ill of him, on the record or off the record."
He also told Fox News that any reporters he had ever spoken to about the Cain allegations were free to openly attribute those comments to him. In doing so, he opened up the door for Politico, who originally reported the allegations, to confirm him as the source. Politico has not done so, effectively eliminating Anderson as the source of the story.
Block said earlier Thursday that he would "accept" the claim by Anderson that he was not behind the story.
"Until we get all the facts, I'm just going to say that we accept what Mr. Anderson has said, and we want to move on with the campaign," Block said on Fox News.
But Cain seemed unconvinced, telling Hannity "there aren't enough breadcrumbs that leads us to any other place."
"I believe a lot of people are connecting the dots for themselves," Cain said. "I don't see any other way this could have come out."
Cain also said he's "almost certain" he told Anderson about the allegations.
"I am almost certain that I did. … This is why we want to get off this merry-go-round," Cain said.
Billy Joel should be apologizing to me. :)
I like Cain, but I’m starting to think maybe I gave him too much credit because I dislike the rest of the field.
Watching Cain and his staff deal with this issue has been a lot more instructive than whatever did or didn’t happen with Cain and these women. I donated money to Cain earlier this week when these allegations came out, but this is no way to handle a crisis. Even if NOTHING happened, and I’m inclined to believe that Cain didn’t do anything wrong, the way he, Block and others in his campaign have reacted is just not smart or disciplined.
When did Steve Forbes sell Forbes Magazine, I missed that.
I want Cain to show the “proof “ he had when he accused Perry...so far, no proof, except “Well, that guy that works for Perry did it” and now “well, the magazine said Perry did it”....
And now, Cain “just wants to get off the merry-go-round”????
On this one, Perry has taken the high road and not gotten on the “merry-go-round “.
I’m all with Cain on the original allegations. But not on his lying about other people to cover his own team’s ineptitude. If you feel Cain deserves to be supported for making unfounded accusations about a guy who served on his previous campaign and still expresses admiration and respect for him, go right ahead.
Leaks are intentional.
Of course you can't “prove” anything and directly show a link, it's all done with plausible deniability in mind.
But someone did leak it.
That said, the Cain side believes it's from Perry's side, and the connection makes sense.
These scum tactics entirely eliminate someone like Perry from the picture. Even if he's nominated and counts on me (the usual conservative voter) to vote for him because he's our guy, I'll stay home. Perry has just eliminated himself from the political gene pool.
There is so far no merit to any of this and the goal is of course to simply keep the story going because as long as the media “talks about it” it's supposed to maul the candidate Cain. Au contraire, this sort of anonymously leaked 20 year old trash (it has no substance - “accusations”) is what discredits the typical political animals like Perry. The only one that deserves ripped apart politically is Perry, not Cain.
that source is forbes.
cain rises to the top and
bang!
the liberal-progressives and rino-progressives
ambush him
they want washington d.c. to stay establishment.
C’mon “darling” do you really mean that.
Too bad.
Cain’s campaign manager accused Perry directly....yeesh.
"Rick Perry needs to apologize to Herman Cain, his family, and America for this despicable story," Cain's chief of staff Mark Block said Wednesday on Fox News.
How's the view up there on your high horse, cowboy?
I think it’s one of those “Who needs facts? It’s the seriousness of the allegations.” and “fake but accurate” things the ‘RATS always use.
This Perry character is dragging Perry down, IMO.
If the story is false we will find out, hopefully soon, before it brings down a campaign. All anyone seems to care about is who released the report, not if it's true or not.
At this point, Herman needs to step back and let all the crap the media is going to throw out there fall. You know they are going keep heaping stuff on him for a while. For now he should just stick to the issues.
Then he can collect himself and deal with all the smears in a single press conference and give his side to the whole story and move on.
This is a valuable learning experience for sure. Should he survive this and be the nominee, he’ll have to be ready for even worse Alisky/Chicago-thug style tactics from 0bama and his hoards of goons.
Steve Forbes is editor-in-cheif of Forbes Magazine.
This is not a good development for Cain, no matter how you slice it.
Sarah
Bachmann
Cain
Perry’s next.
I don’t care if a youtube appears showing Cain beating Michelle Obama with a baseball bat or another showing Perry shooting a pistol into the air during his speech-
cue music-
“I won’t be fooled again”
yes.
the left despises black conservatives
and the rinos do not want a conservative for president.
reagan got shot.
the truth is, rinos are big spenders like the democrats.
I also don’t think the allegations were anything really at all...but I didn’t like the way Cain and his team handled this.
why didn’t cain just say one comment that “this was a complaint, it was baseless, end of story.” and leave it at that...
Why is that.........
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