PJ: While Mr. Cain's alleged sexual misconduct dominates the news, the last paragraph of this article speaks volumes about how the world regards the candidate: "The former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza is the surprise candidate of the Republican race so far, rising to the top of the polls despite having no political or foreign policy experience."
The Guardian
Herman Cain faces public airing of sexual harassment claims
National Restaurant Association may lift gag on woman who left with payout while Republican frontrunner was in charge
By Ewen MacAskill
The National Restaurant Association is expected to announce on Friday whether it will publish a statement from one of the women who accused Herman Cain of inappropriate behaviour when he was chairman of the organisation.
A spokeswoman for the association, Sue Hensley, said a copy of the woman's statement had been received from her lawyer on Thursday and would be considered overnight.
The decision of the association, which Cain headed in the late 90s when the alleged sexual harassment took place, looks like a lose-lose situation for him. If published the statement could provide the first detailed account of what until now have only been vague charges. If the organisation refuses to publish it will look as if there is something significant to hide.
The story broke on Sunday when Politico reported that two women employees complained of being unhappy about Cain's behaviour and that both left the organisation after financial settlements.
AP reported that a third woman has since come forward saying she also considered accusing him of harassment – a report the Cain camp described as baseless.
Cain has denied sexual harassment of any of the women but has repeatedly changed his version of events.
The two women who received settlements signed agreements to maintain silence. But a Washington-based lawyer, Joel Bennett, acting on behalf of one of the women, wrote to the association on Thursday asking for the ban to be lifted and for her statement, which he provided, to be published. Hensley told Reuters on Thursday: "We are currently reviewing the document and we plan to respond tomorrow."
There were fresh allegations on Thursday, with a report that one of the women involved had received a payout of $45,000, substantially more than the Republican presidential candidate suggested earlier this week.
The new report undermined attempts by Cain, the Republican frontrunner in the battle to take Barack Obama for the White House next year, to divert attention from a row that has dominated the media all week.
Cain on Monday initially said he could not recall any such settlements. He told journalists at the National Press Club in Washington: "As far as a settlement, I am unaware of any kind of settlement. I hope it wasn't for much, because I didn't do anything. But the fact of the matter is I'm not aware of a settlement that came out of that accusation."
He later amended this to say he recalled one settlement, which had been for "two to three months' salary", though he changed this again to say it had "perhaps" been six months.
Politico said on Thursday that one of the women had received $45,000, believed to be more than just a few months' salary. The New York Times reported the other woman had received $35,0000.
In another setback Cain's team backed off its claim that rival Rick Perry's team had originally planted the story in a dirty tricks operation. Cain had claimed a Perry strategist, Curt Anderson, was the source.
But Cain's team on Thursday was forced into a climbdown after Anderson denied it. Anderson said he had known nothing about the allegations until he read about them on Politico.
He added that he continued to have enormous respect for Cain and would not speak negatively about him either on or off the record.
Mark Block, Cain's campaign chief, said: "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."
Anderson had worked for Cain as a consultant during Cain's failed bid for the Senate in 2004. Cain's team has claimed he was briefed at the time about the sex harrassment allegations.
Perry's team suggested that another rival, Mitt Romney, might have been the culprit, noting that one of Romney's big donors was in the restaurant industry.
In Iowa a conservative radio talkshow host, Steve Deace, said Cain was "compromised in his private life". No polls have yet appeared indicating that Cain's support is crumbling but Deace is influential in the state, where the first of the Republican contests is due to be held on 3 January.
Deace claimed Cain had made inappropriate comments about two of Deace's own female staff.
After three days of being in the media glare in Washington, Cain remained in the city on Thursday intent on adopting a lower profile. At least one campaign event has been cancelled but he has not yet pulled out from a radio interview scheduled for Thursday evening.
Cain, throughout his campaign for the Republican nomination, has kept his family strictly in the background but, following the pattern of candidates caught up in previous sex rows, he may field his wife, Gloria, for the first time in public, with negotiations under way for a possible television interview on Friday.
The former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza is the surprise candidate of the Republican race so far, rising to the top of the polls despite having no political or foreign policy experience.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/04/herman-cain-faces-public-airing-harassment
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