Cain Remains Mum

Herman Cain has made it clear that he will not answer questions regarding the sexual harassment allegations that have been plaguing him this week. Twelve years ago two women who worked at the National Restaurant Association where Cain was president accused him of sexual harassment (Garment).The women said that conversations with Cain were “ filled with innuendo or personal questions of a sexually suggestive nature” and “physical gestures that were not overtly sexual” but did make them feel uncomfortable(Garment). A lawyer for one of the women says that the woman did receive a settlement (Elliott).
At first Cain denied the sexual harassment charges (Elliott). However, now he chooses to not address the allegations at all. At a recent Texas debate, Cain did not address the issue, instead choosing to say "There are too many people in the media who are downright dishonest. ... They do a disservice to the American people"(Elliott). When a reporter tried asking him a question specifically regarding the allegation Cain cut him off and said, “Don't even go there” (Elliott). When the reporter asked if he could finish his questions, Cain said no and told his chief of staff to “please send him the journalistic code of ethics” (Elliott). However, I believe the job of the journalists is to investigate and find the truth, so I see nothing wrong with going straight to the source and asking them about the allegations. I find it strange that supposedly Cain has nothing to hide, but will not address the issue when a chance to clear everything up is presented to him.
He either needs to own up to the allegations or say that the accusers are lying and provide the adequate information. It seems like fellow Republicans feel the same way. Jon Hunstman said, "legitimate questions have been raised and that information has to come forward” (Nicholas). Mississippi governor Haley Barbour also thinks information needs to be put out for the public saying, “I’m not one of the people who think this is necessarily fatal. It might not hurt him at all. But people need to know what the facts are. And that’s the challenge for him right now to get those out as quickly as possible and get it behind him"(Nicholas). Just being mum about it and not addressing the issue head one gives me the wrong assumption especially after the whole Weiner scandal. At first Weiner said that his account was hacked, but then he did not address the issue for some time, until his press conference and more pictures were leaked. That is why I get suspicious every time there is a sexual allegation and the politicians stays mum on the issue. If there is nothing to hide then I think he should have addressed the issue right away.
It seems like the Republican voter’s response to the allegations is mixed. A Washington Post-ABC News found that 7 out of 10 people say the allegation do not matter when chosing a candidate (Elliott). However, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Cain’s approval among Republicans fell from 66 percent to 57 percent (Nicholas). It seems like the Republicans are saying that the allegations do not matter, but for some reason or another their approval for Cain is falling. The question I have regarding the Washing Post ABC News poll is why do the allegations not matter to Republicans? When it comes to gay marriage, the Republicans have a lot to say about the protection of the sanctity of marriage. However, sexually harassing a coworker does not seem like he respects his marriage or his wife. I am interested in seeing what will happen next.

Works Cited

Elliott, Philip. "Herman Cain Says He Won't Answer Sexual Harassment Questions." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .

Garment, Suzanne. "Opinion: Cain Reaction: Not by the Book." Politics, Political News - POLITICO.com. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .

Nicholas, Peter. "Republicans Urge Herman Cain to Tell All in Harassment Flap - Latimes.com." Los Angeles Times - California, National and World News - Latimes.com. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .