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Report: Herman Cain ‘Reassessing’ Whether To Stay In GOP Race

» 76 comments

Scandal-besieged Republican candidate Herman Cain is considering dropping out of the race, according to a scoop by National Review reporter Robert Costa Tuesday morning, adding that he will decide whether the new allegations made against him will create “too much of a cloud” for supporters.

Costa reported Cain, who was in a somber mood, made the announcement via conference call:

In a conference call this morning, Herman Cain told his senior staff that he is “reassessing” whether to remain in the race. He told them he will make his final decision “over the next several days.”

Additionally, Costa reported that Cain used the term “reassessing” repeatedly on conference call with senior staff members.

Amy Walters at ABC News confirmed the news through Cain’s chief of staff:

Herman Cain’s chief of staff Mark Block confirmed to ABC News that the candidate told his senior staff this morning that he is reassessing whether he should stay in the race, as reported by the National Review.
Cain told his staff in a conference call that he’ll make his final decision “over the next several days.”

UPDATE: Jennifer Jacobs at The Des Moines Register has Cain’s full quotes about his pending decision:

“If a decision is made, different than we should plow ahead, you all will be the first to know,” he said to about 90 people on a conference call at 10:15 a.m. central.

“Now with this latest one we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud in some peoples’ minds as to whether or not they should support us going forward.

I have known this lady for a number of years. And thirdly I had been attempting to help her financially because she was out of work and destitute, desperate. I have many friends. I know now that she wasn’t the friend that I thought she was. But it was just a friendship relationship. Obviously this is cause for reassessment. During the summer we had to make some reassessments based on our financial situation. We were able to hang in there. When the previous false accusations came about, we made another assessment. The way we handled those was we continued on with our schedule.

And they showed it not only in terms of their verbal support, they showed it in terms of their dollar. Now, with this latest one, we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud in some peoples’ minds as to whether or not they should support us going forward. Any time you put another cloud of doubt, unfortunately, in the court of public opinion you’re guilty until proven innocent. The public is going to have to decide whether they believe her or whether they believe me. I just wanted to let everybody know directly from me, we have not lost our enthusiasm at this point.

We are going to reassess things over the next several days and we will contact you in over the next several days and let you know positive, negative whatever the case may be. But as I said, I’m going to continue the schedule as planned.”

(h/t National Review)

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  • Anonymous

    Please Herman, STAY IN THE RACE!  The Cain Train needs to keep rolling!!!

    This is the best thing to happen to the Democratic Party since George W. Bush held hands with that Saudi King.

  • Anonymous

    And don’t let the door…

    You know, it’s not him, it’s the slime who ostensibly ‘supported’ him who should reassess if their conduct was one of decent responsible citizens

  • skykingtak

    Get out now Herman, you are just prolonging the agony by staying.

  • http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/630-E-Lovell-Dr-Troy-MI-48085/24509418_zpid/ Louisa Gismonde Calcaterra

    I feel sorry for all those delusional Cain supporters who actually thought this moron had a chance of winning…but hey, thanks for the laughs Herb!

    LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Anonymous

    Exactly! ODB Herb Cain should stay in the race. These “conservatives” are going to need something, anything to keep everyone distracted while the clown car is in the shop! STAY IN IT HERB!!!!

  • http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

    Poor guy only wanted to use a series of shadowy financial transactions to promote his brand and pad his personal accounts and now the world sees him as a horny clown. The Cain train finally comes to a hault. Don’t come a knockin’ cause in this case the rockin’ is caused by Gloria beatin his a**.

  • Anonymous

    Damn Herman!  You have a much better chance of getting away with this
    kind of shit AFTER you get elected President! Remember Willie Clinton??

  • Rex derWunderGott

    I can think of at least 4 with more say in this decision than Creepy:

    1. The RNC, which recognized Creepy is now hurting the GOP brand;
    2. Rove, who has the power to bring down upon Creepy the wrath of the NRA
    (not THAT RNA, the Restaurant one, which is not fielding requests from msnbc, POLITICO and other media orgs about whether and to what extent Creepy had the NRA pay to fly Miss Ginger around the country to whereever he happened to be on NRA business;
    3. Romney, who’s got to start clearing some brush and deadwood away to allow for some green shoot growth in his campaign (cuz Jebus does the GOP base ever hate Mittens); and
    4. one Mrs. Gloria Cain.

    I believe #4 is actually calling the shots here. Hell hath no fury like a deceived wife being turned into a laughing stock.

  • The Real Royal Emperor

    Hang tough, Herb. Amerika needs you. 

  • Rex derWunderGott

    It ain’t Creepy’s call. He’s answerable to a lot of people. To the above list, I’d add the Koch brothers, who funded his start and HAVE to p.o.’d about the fact that the IRS is now investigating all that.

  • http://www.facebook.com/aio.seven Aio Seven

    See ya’, Herm; It’s been, umm, entertaining, you groping cheating perv..

  • Anonymous

    Herman Cain for the sake of your own narcissism and the comedy, please stay in…

    …Although on the other hand, you knew all about some of these women through the settlements/agreements. I’m sure you already know what to do for the sake of your family, friends and colleagues etc etc etc 

  • Anonymous

    No one that matters cares. :)

  • Rex derWunderGott

    I think the scam was breathtakingly simple, and Newt’s been doing it too, and now ALL of them have a book out there.

    The idea: write a book, good book or crappy book doesn’t matter, ghost-written or self-written doesn’t matter, and set a “best seller” type price, say, $29.95 SRR (You could probably get a way with higher.).

    Then have your own campaign buy a bunch of copies at that SRR, while ‘expecting’ a friendly PAC or SuperPAC or ten to make THEIR purchases, too, also at SRR. Plus, hey, even a few might get sold the legit way to supporters and the curious, and media reporters. So now you have a NYT best seller, a runaway, and you and your supporters have found a legit way to make you millions. 

    It’s the easiest scam in the R playbook, but only works if you run for POTUS. Thus, Creepy. Thus, Newt.

    But by now there’s more enough money to cash out on the sting. Time to close up and move the carny while the getting is good, lay low for a while til the next grift comes along.

  • Anonymous

    You are correct. I had forgotten Herb’s new found love for his “brothers from another mother”. The IRS as well as the FEC should have a thing or two to say about that. As it is, he’s probably done enough to get that show on FOX “news” by now with him being a lunatic right winger and all.

  • http://www.facebook.com/aio.seven Aio Seven

    You nailed it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/aio.seven Aio Seven

    Baloney, just a couple of weeks ago Limbaugh, Hannity and I’m sure you, were humping this guy’s leg.

  • The Real Royal Emperor

    I assume you’re “speaking” metaphorically? Because, with all of his harassing women, conducting torrid affairs and long pauses for thinking, I don’t see how there would be time for this activity.

    It is amazing, however, isn’t it, how they all run to a candidate, first Bachmann, then Tollbooth, then Herb, then the Newt in a crowd-induced frenzy of excitement, then rush on to the next messiah? Rather reminds me of a scene from the “Life of Brian”.

  • Anonymous

    The Republicans/Tea Party will be desperate to hold off and circle the wagons around anyone else right now, except their obvious choice Mr Romney…

    …Poor old Herman Cain. Monty Python couldn’t make this up.

  • Anonymous

    Nope. I was never on the Cain Train. Pablo I think was the only poster that was on it.

    Sorry to break your meme. My candidate is someone else. :)

  • Anonymous

    No one ran to Bachmann, Trump, Cain or anyone else. Stop listening to the media stories in your head.

    I am a voting member of the GOP. And none of your stories are true.

  • OSTL

    You mean like barney frank is going to do? Jeebus, think before you spew.

  • http://gregingleright.weebly.com/ Greg

    The next grift is always on the make… the only problem that the right is so heavily populated with drifting confidence tricksters that they all bumped into each other on the way to the big score.

  • Anonymous

    Everyone cares what AS’s bestie has to say!

  • Anonymous

    Limbaugh and Hannity thank you for their web and radio hits.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QUGVMSBBEAOYINQ5UOKMV36IQA Sanchia

    That sucks! He should try running for the president of Ubeki-Beki-Beki-Stan! He has my vote.

  • Anonymous

    “Report: Herman Cain ‘Reassessing’ Whether To Stay In GOP Race”…Translation:  Herb knows there’s thirteen years worth of evidence out there just waiting to pile up on him that he was involved with this latest woman.  Herb knows he can’t explain 3 and 4 am calls to his friend (with benefits) to his wife who must now be making all kinds of connections in her mind between Herb and some of his past behavior and this woman.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bart-Morgay/100001554351938 Bart Morgay

    Give it a month and this clown will be back delivering pizzas. 

  • huffnnoccupyn

    It was only their support of Cain that provided the illusion that the redness of their necks was going away.

  • Anonymous

    What will all of the goofballs here do when they have to vote for Mitt Romney in 2012? They hate him so much, but it’s either him or another four years of a milquetoast Democrat. THE HORROR!

    I mean, you’ve got to laugh at the whole thing. American politics at it’s finest!

  • Anonymous

    Cain should have been a democrat. Extramarital sex is a plus in that camp. If only he was a “right thinking” negro.

  • Anonymous

    Insannity Hannity and Rush LimpBalls need no publicity…they have old white America on their side…maybe i should say old white  “scared” America on their side…scared only because “they” scared Old white Amrica..lololol

  • huffnnoccupyn

    It’s four Beckies and two Stans.

    Why doesn’t that sound as odd as it should?

  • Anonymous

    The Rapist’s Pizza is done

  • Anonymous

    I’m young America and I listen just fine. And I’m not scared.

    Meme broken.

    I’m glad my parents never taught me to act as ill-mannered as you.

  • http://www.facebook.com/aio.seven Aio Seven

    Don’t forget the “z”; so if we’re correct the that would make it “Uz-beki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan.

  • Anonymous

    My experience has been that people with lots of money and position, can have a very different view of marriage than the majority. Sometimes they have an open marriage where both parties are free to have thier flings as long as they remain rather discreet. Other times it’s a don’t ask don’t tell policy in which one partner looks the other way in order to maintain peace, prosperity and position. Sometimes it’s just an unspoken understanding.

    IMO it’s a perfectly understandable and valid approach to marriage and/or a relationship, but not one the average person will understand or accept in a politician, especially if they have to support family values.

    There’s no way of knowing in Cain’s case, but it would be interesting to see a politician have the nerve to say, “My spouse and I have an open relationship and it’s nobodies business but our own” end of discussion.

  • Anonymous

    Except the people that defended him, supported him, and believed in him. You know, those people.

  • Anonymous

    He is allready out. He just don’t know it yet!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Paul-Henry/100000496362883 Paul Henry

    Like I said with the other three or four women, where there is smoke there is fire!! This lady has proof and why would Mr. Cain be texting some lady other than his wife at 4:29AM??? Something or someone is not right and I think the someone is Mr. Cain.

  • http://www.facebook.com/gerald.miks Gerald Miks

    So who else should the right wingers support? And please don’t bore me by saying Obummer.  He and his left wing clan had their chance for two years and they couldn’t even pass a budget.   He was suppose to fix the “mess” that he inherited, instead he and his faithful followers took us so far in debt that it will be far into the future before we’re out.  If the country survives. 

  • Anonymous

    Come on… You can throw a train under a bus. The Cain Train will smash that thing. You supports anyone who says tax bad, big government bad, Israel good, abortion bad, Obama not American. And YOU supported Cain and defended him against that evil “democratic machine”

  • Anonymous

    Such as Pablo? So you think one person is holding down the Mediaite fort? Who else liked Cain? :)

  • Anonymous

    Anyone ARROGANT enough to write a book called “This Is [my name]!: My Journey to the White House” before ever coming anywhere near the White House is doomed to fail.

  • Anonymous

    or at least work for the “Newt”

  • Anonymous

    Actually Obama is a centrist. This “left wing clan” that you refer to is pissed off at him.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NMIKH2YFVNOIFEHIABNQA2MUNY Zona

    Cain thinking he could get away with all this means he was being “uppity”.  Right Limbaugh.

  • Anonymous

    I’m seriously starting to wonder if ‘Pablo’ is in fact Herman Cain.

  • Anonymous

    I wasn’t talking about Mediaite specifically.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TWK2YYJTTIDLZIVV7NKZM23Z6Q Tyler

    Herb for the best interest in our party you need to drop out.  We need to start recruiting Jeb or Christy.  

  • http://twitter.com/Bennybombom Ben

    This is a pretty simple story…
    Of course Herb was banging that chick and giving her money,and of course he harassed these other women…
    Cain was dumb enough to think he’s so special that she wouldn’t say a thing after he stopped giving her dough and stopped calling her in september….because he’s a stupid dude.
    Stupid enough to think he’d run for POTUS and no one would talk about the fact that he’s a horny dog with a history of sexual harassment settlements.
    What.
    A.
    Moron.

    “We need a leader,not a reader”……

    Dumb.
    @ss.

  • Anonymous

    “I have known this lady for a number of years. And thirdly I had been attempting to help her financially because she was out of work and destitute, desperate.”

    If this was really true, one would think the lady would be telling the country what a great person Cain was for helping her when she was destitute,  not telling the country she and Cain had a relationship for years. 

    Man, you gotta feel for Cains wife and family.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jj-Wisniewski/100002654075475 Jj Wisniewski

    Cain needs to get out. He’s freakin distraction. He wasn’t running a presidential campaign, but rather an extended book tour. He was just in Ohio promoting it and has spent virtually no substantial time in Iowa. From these sexual allegations to his foreign policy positions and the 9-9-9 or as now revised 9-0-9 plan, he’s freakin joke.

  • Anonymous

    Report: Mrs. Hermain Cain “Reassessing” whether to stay in crappy marriage

  • Henry Wood

    Herb has already done what the Koch’s paid him to do. 

    He stood up on the stage and said “Hey look I’m a black guy, there is no more racism in the republiklan party!”

    He was always just a token…an “affirmative action candidate” if you will.

  • http://twitter.com/Screaming_Head The Screaming Head

    He’s got to stay…for the humor and the books! Don’t forget the books!

    When you guys get tired of the entertainment, come look at a real solution and give your opinion. Click link below.

    http://www.occupyxmas.net/2011/11/occupy-xmas-offers-asolution.html

  • Anonymous

    idiot leftist and racist identity-politics driven meme that declares support for a black man is owing to disguised racism

    related to another idiot leftist and racist identity-politics driven meme that declares opposition to a black man is owing to disguised racism

    It takes a racist to always be able to see race no matter what side of an issue is taken or which way one turns.

  • 越飞

    Fact: Barny Frank is retiring after 30+ years on the job and at the age of 71.

  • Anonymous

    Central planning socialists with command economy tendencies surrounded from an early age by Marxists and radicals are “centrist” now.

    /sarcasm

    How far-left are some you people pushing such rubbish?

  • Anonymous

    Vote for Mitt Romney and a whole stale of down-ticket Tea Party candidates to be able to stop the abject destructiveness, now proven, of progressive governance, hopefully.

  • 越飞

    Cain was doomed anyway, and all these allegations about his sexual aggression are an easy out for him.
    He entered the race with no real plan of what he would do as president. He waffled more than Romney on every issue under the sun and clearly came up with his 9-9-9 plan in desperation when he knew he would be asked how he would deal with the tax thing.
    Since that proved to be unsupportable, and he knows nothing about any other issue, he would be out of the race in a few more weeks at best.
    There is something (wrongly) macho about being over-sexed, so that is better than being proven to be ignorant about everything a president needs to know.

  • Anonymous

    Something isn’t right.  You.

    Seriously, how can you get basic facts wrong?  Not just facts but simple characterizations as well.  She texted (not called) him at that time – as well as other people (as brief flashes of the phone records showed) at all hours of the day.  Once more, and more troubling, texts are not indicative of affairs.  They’re indicative of acquaintanceship.

    Where there’s smoke, there’s very often someone fanning a blanket over a fire and sending out obvious signals.  With today’s openly partisan press (as far gone as I’ve seen it in my lifetime, in any case) for people not to get that is stunning. This meta-story – from the start – has not once had substantiation.

  • Anonymous

    Tyler, “our” party (not withstanding that I, myself, don’t speak for it, not being a Republican) doesn’t support, as you do, Occupy Wall Street.  I’m a big tent guy, but that’s right out.

  • huffnnoccupyn

    Like when conservatives say that Democrats only nominated Obama because he was black and that Obama won the election because of white guilt. Like when conservatives say that the Great Society, social security, unemployment compensation and welfare programs are specifically set up to ensure minority poverty in U.S. cities like Detroit.

    Wow! You’re right!

  • Anonymous

    Not surprisingly, you’re doing it wrong.

    There are no “two sides of an issue” which is under discussion.  Such is to say if a conservative were to make the case that the Great Society was set up to ensure minority poverty (and not that it has the effect, of increased minority poverty, as well as affecting all other communities – as most conservatives actually argue ) in U.S. cities like Detroit, they don’t at the time say the Great Society was set up just to benefit blacks (if they were, they’d simply be demonstrating their racism, not conservatism, as well as their idiocy).  Such motivation as lies behind the policy, of course, would be more accurately attributable to their being pro-progressive rather than anti-black.  Big government progressives don’t so much mind creating dependents out of whole peoples, not just blacks.

    Similarly, conservatives would never say the Democrats only nominated Obama because he was black – they would say they nominated him because he was a black progressive with little substance behind him onto whom they could collectively project nebulous, empty-headed concepts of “hope” and “change” in willful ignorance of his learned proclivities.  But not simply for his being black.

    And in any case, you never once tried to disassociate yourself from my demonstration of your own racist, identity-politics driven idiocy – you simply tired to divert from it with the notion that “hey! they do it too!”

  • OSTL

    So? He’s still writing books, making speeches, etc just like you loons are criticizing Cain for doing. Hypocrites.

  • huffnnoccupyn

    And your sentence construction using future-tense hypotheticals describing conservative positions must mean you’re doing it right.

  • Anonymous

    That’s right.  Attack tense usage.  Don’t engage the issue.

    That’s ok.  its already well enough demonstrated.

  • 越飞

    I stated a simple fact.
    what is hypocritical?
    By the way, I do not accuse Cain of running a scam. I think he really was running.

  • Anonymous

    DEMOCRATIC AGENDA:

    Well….Michelle Bachmann has been branded as “stupid” and Herman Cain has
    been accused of being a a sex machine by numerous paid, shady sluts. Palin isn’t running but we have
    enough lies about her that we have no worries.

    That takes care of the Tea Party candidates….now let’s get busy selecting who we want to run against Obama.
    This is all a set up and if you can’t see that….you are just as stupid as what they were depending on you being!

    (It happened in 2008 also….and with Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas).

  • http://societyfordaintydamsels.wordpress.com/ fennel

    Rex,.,.,
    Is it really true the Koch bros are being investigated by the IRS.  Not arguing,  Not disbelieving. Just want to know more of this.  I think its terrific  the IRS is investigating the Koch  brothers,

  • http://societyfordaintydamsels.wordpress.com/ fennel

    Cain is reassessing running for the Republican presidential nomination because the heat is too much for him.
    The gig is up Cain.  Obviously politicians running for office are the brunt of negative campaigning.  However in the case of Herman Cain its a combination of sexual sleaziness, sexism,  affairs,   unfair, unethical   business practices and looking like an idiot in the Republican debates. 

  • Anonymous

    That is the most sensible thing you have written.  Well done!

    Purveyor

  • Anonymous

    I assume you are either trying to emulate “Prince”  (Who changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol.  So people could refer to him as the man formerly known as “Prince”)

    OR, the symbol means “Comrade,” which is more like likely.  Yes, that “box” you don’t want to be put in, your in it!

    Purveyor

  • Anonymous

    “Stop listening to the media stories in your head.”

    If only left and right people really would do that! Oh wait that means stop watching 24/7 cable “news” lol

  • 越飞

    It is the name I use on my Chinese driver’s license.
    I did get tired of the old name (Devil’s Spawn). Was only going to use that one for a short while.

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