Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Iowa Cain Campaign

Cain Train: The train rolls on according to two separate statements from two people in Herman Cain's Iowa campaign, despite this latest public accusation of inappropriate behavior from the candidate. An Atlanta woman claims she had a near 14-year affair with Cain (who is married). Cain denies the affair.

Cain has all but disappeared from Iowa since the Republican Party of Iowa Straw Poll in August. He had a stop at a coffee shop in Dubuque and shot a commercial at the Machine Shed Restaurant in Urbandale two weeks ago. His campaign today could offer no insight as to when Cain would return to the state, which holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses in just 5 weeks.

Here are two statements in light of the newest allegations of Cain's improper behavior:

Cain Campaign Iowa Director, Larry Tuel

We are building a great Iowa ground game for Herman Cain, and have almost 900 pct captains in place.
Nothing that has occurred has changed our plans. Whatever reassessment is going on in the national campaign, our marching orders are to keep building our ground game in Iowa and prepare to storm the gates January 3rd.

We haven't had supporters calling today asking to have their names removed from the list of pct captains. Certainly they are looking for an explanation and we provided it to them. We are all believers in Herman Cain in this office and are looking forward to seeing this campaign through to the Iowa Caucuses.


To: Iowa Cain Supporters
From: Steve Grubbs, Iowa Cain Chairman


As you may know, a new accusation was leveled against Herman Cain yesterday. On a conference call this morning, Mr. Cain made several important points:

1) He reiterated that he had tried to help Ginger White with her problems and tried to get her on her feet financially.
2) He discussed the emotional toll these allegations had taken on his family, but emphasized that he was moving ahead with the campaign, including a foreign policy speech tonight in Michigan
3) He said the campaign was reassessing where it was similar to the reassessment that was made after the Iowa Straw poll and the Florida straw polls.

This is what I take from the call and what I believe:

1) News reports have been quick to report the allegations, but few have been fair about reporting the background of the accuser. Credit to the New York Times for including this paragraph in their story:
New York Times, 11-28-2011: "Ms. White is an unemployed single mother. Before the interview, Fox learned that she had filed a sexual harassment claim against an employer in 2001. That case was settled. The station also found a bankruptcy filing nearly 23 years ago in Kentucky, and several eviction notices in the Atlanta area over the past six years.
The station also reported that Ms. White had a former business partner who once sought a "stalking temporary protective order" against her for "repeated e-mails/texts threatening lawsuit and defamation of character." The case was dismissed, but it was followed by a libel lawsuit against Ms. White. A judge entered an order against Ms. White because she failed to respond to the lawsuit, Fox reported"
2) Both John McCain and Bill Clinton had similarly difficult times in their presidential campaigns (McCain in the summer of 2007 and Clinton during the fall of 1991) and they both weathered the storm and emerged to be their parties nominees.

3) I believe in Herman Cain and his ideas. We need to get back on message and make it to the Iowa Caucuses. My request is that you don't let anyone pick your candidate based on these allegations. We have a strong Iowa ground game and we are looking forward to making it to January 3rd with a strong team intact.

Thank you for your support and thank you for taking a long view of our sometimes challenging electoral process.

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