Herman Cain’s accusers

Anonymous no longer

And Herman Cain is the front-runner no longer

See article

Readers' comments


Keylay Pierce

Herman Cain's obscene and buried past is finally returning to haunt him at the most critical point in his career. Is this coincidence? Or is it fate? Cain's multiple allegations of sexual harassment make me believe the latter. Unanimous accusations began surfacing towards the beginning of his campaign. Cain denied all allegations straight from the start. His consent to a lie-detector test is laudable. A subtle hint of hesitation seemed apparent. This could turn out to bite him in the ass. Only for "a good reason" should Herman Cain go through with his agreement. That time has now arrived. The moment of truth awaits America. Now, citizens across the country deserve a certain answer. Let's plug Cain up to the test and find out if he's a friend or fraud.


I really like the penthouse-esquely description of the alleged episode. Only thing amiss is a photo or graphic illustration. Next time make sure you try harder otherwise I might just start buying Penthouse instead!

skeptical red

Please sign in or register to commentYour comment...

A lot of people haven't caught on to Cain's method, but anyone who ever lived in the South and went to a Baptist church recognizes the type. The "I love you all" type. The folksy type. Clinton had it, and McCain's got it. The difference--aside from Clinton's seriously flawed character--is that Clinton was a policy wonk. Cain, not so much.

A big part of the argument offered for Cain is his experience in turning around a pizza chain. The question I would ask is this: where are the erstwhile employees of the pizza chain coming forward to talk about his business vision, leadership, decision-making, or intiatives for saving the company? Plus, how hard could it be? Pizza chains make pizza. All pizzas are the same, differing only as to size and topping. Then the counter clerk gives the customer an empty cup and the customer make a beverage choice from a limited selection. Not a hard business to understand (not a railroad, an airline, a steel company, a high tech company, or a multinational corporation, mind you).

For that matter, where are the female subordinates who could have come forward to say "I worked for Mr. Cain. He insisted that women be treated with respect".

Cain is a Tea Party candidate. The Tea Party are people without a plan or program except to put a limit federal government power, which they lack the intellect to even understand how to do. They are so resentful of The Establshment that they embrace any self-proclaimed "outsider" as a Messiah who will purge the temple of the money-changers.

Cain's candidacy is dead in the water. He just doesn't know it yet. The danger is that his supporters will boycott the general election. Cain could cause the GOP to lose to Mr. Obama, who--whatever one thinks of his policies--is no fool.


Cain has lost all credibility after the sexual harassment allegations surfaced. Two out of the four women have come forward testifying against him. He still denies of any such thing but that is to be expected. Aside from the scandal, he proves to be un-knowledgeable time and time again about political issues. He ended his statement with "oops" after stumbling on an answer to his own details for dismembering the federal government. Why is he even running? His intended voters have dropped from 26% to 21% in a matter of a week.


Cain says he will submit to a lie-detector test if given "good reason." It seems that multiple women coming forward and pursuing their sexual harassment charges should be "good reason." The shear fact that this whole thing could be dispelled (an Cains declared innocence proven) if he simply submits to it. I think the fact that instead of denying and blaming the "l"iberal media" Cain could do a whole lot more for his cause by putting it to rest. The fact that he hasnt indicates that Cain most likely is guilty, because he would rather lose ground in the polls then dispel these harassment "lies."

Fossil American

femi wrote: ...I cannot believe that Herman Cain still believes he still has any realistic chance of a shot at The White House...

* * *

As Clinton said about Obama: "(He) has the political instinct of a Chicago thug..."

When a thug like Obama can win, anyone can. Beside, it is obvious that this is a setup. Cain did not work a day in Chicago, yet all his accusers are from the Obama home base of Chicago where Cain never worked or reside.


If these allegations are true, Herman Cain obviously has no shot in the race. Looks like we could be congratulating Mr. Romney soon. That is, in case he decides to mess up also as all his Republican counterparts have been. Does anyone want to win this primary? Sure doesn't seem like it.

Caroline S.

I find it outrageous that Cain's campaign is saying his opposition is trying to keep him out of office with these allegation. He also thinks it's because he is a business man, no that's not why, people don't want him in office because he may have harassed women. At first it seemed uncertain if the allegations were purely false since none of the women came forward. Since two of the women have come forward now it seems likely that the allegations are true. If all of the women involved have no connections to one another then there should be no reason to disregard their stories until fully investigated.
Sexual harassment is rampant in the workplace and many women who are in lower authority positions feel scared to report it. Especially in this job market, if a woman is at the risk of being fired for making supposed accusations or having to quit, there is no guarantee of another job around the corner.


Accusations like these always seem to come up at one time or another in politics. If these women are coming forward, how can it not be true. I am almost certain that people would not make up a story of being sexually assaulted. And if Cain is willing to take a lie-detector test, why not make him to it? He says only if he has a "good reason." Well I find this to be a very good reason to take the test. If it is not true, then he should have no problem taking the lie-detector test.


Another one bites the dust - another candidate that is. It seems that all you have to do to be a good republican candidate right now is not have a bad history, be an idiot, and just have a strong, or maybe just seemingly strong, platform. Well I'm sure at least Romney's happy about this as it puts him even farther ahead.


It seems it is getting difficult for Mr Cain as a spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury, no less, adds her claim to having been groped sexually by Herman, along with the others.

I don't think we'll be seeing Mr Cain and lawyers release the unknown accusers any time soon from their "paid to be quiet" agreements....which makes it stink to high heaven. I'm not a Perry fan at all, but his little forgetful episode, like Dean's "yell" to his supporters year back, is much ado about nothing. The real story is Cain. I'm not so much looking at this from a moral viewpoint, but a practical one. I have no idea what we would be getting with this man - and he does a lousy job managing a crisis. The crisis I'm having with him is he a viable choice? I think not.

skeptical red in reply to AmericanVET

Good points you raise. I would offer another. Cain has the support of 20-25% of Republican voters for now. Even if that support doesn't decline, only 20% or so of likely voters consider themselves Republicans, and 20% or so consider themselves Democrats. The remainder are the famed "independents". And at least half of them are women.

Except for Tea Party types, female voters are going to look askance at Herman Cain. If nominated by the GOP--very unlikely--he will not win the general election, because women don't appreciate sexual predators, know about power disparities in the workplace, and figure that where there is smoke there is fire. Cain is done.


It seems the republican candidates are falling out of the run quickly. With Rick Perry not being able to remember his speech and these allegations coming up against Herman Cain, it makes me wonder what will happen next. I do not know 100% if the accusations against him are true, but I believe they are. Yet, it also seems that these things are popping up at a convenient time considering Rick Perry is a rival of his. With his candidacy on the line now, I can see where things might get sticky. However, I believe Cain will have to come up with a better line of defense than it just did not happen. With all these people coming up saying he did these things, he better start explaining himself.


My prediction is that, without any evidence one way or the other, Democrats will believe that Cain is guilty, and Republicans will believe that he is innocent.


Caption under picture of Ms Sharon Bialek reads "A dish best served after 14 years".

Could you tone down the sexism at least a little bit? And on top of that come up with proof that this is about revenge. Sometimes it might just be better to drop the weak puns, in order to avoid looking like juvenile knobs.


Every politician has a past and that can be the part that kills them at the polls. If these allegations are true I expect his run to be a short one.

D Bob

But he still is the front runner according to a CBS poll I just read. And like so many who came before her, this Sharon Shylock woman is a money-grubbing, book-deal-seeking, fame-craving ho. I'll just keep donating money to Cain's campaign.


I cannot believe that Herman Cain still believes he still has any realistic chance of a shot at The White House.I am appalled at the gravity of the allegations made,if he cannot answer to these allegations convincingly he should throw in the towel now and stop wasting everyone's time and money


14 years after the incident and only now, when he is in the public eye, are the accusations levelled at him. There is an agenda that the lost 5% of voters are oblivious to: the profit from media motive. Justice is irrelevant, public welfare is irrelevant, all his policies are irrelevant because they thing that matters to the accusers is the opportunity to make money than they have ever made in their life. The smear campaign is working.

yasmarb in reply to Ianonline

No, the accusations were levelled at him 14 years ago and they were settled at that time as well. The reason these allegations are coming to light now is because he is thrusting himself into the public aye and subjecting himself to this scrutiny. Mr. Cain wants to be president and cites his experience as a CEO as his main qualification. How is it irrelevant to examine how he behaved in that role?



Products and events


Take our weekly news quiz to stay on top of the headlines

