Politico published an email that went out late today from Herman Cain to his list. It's a bit odd. Here are a few key excerpts, with my emphasis added:
Unfortunately, the media-driven process by which one must seek this opportunity is fundamentally unserious. I have touched on this before - the emphasis on "gaffes," gotcha questions and time devoted to trivial nonsense - and everyone knows the process only became further detached from relevance this week as the media published anonymous, ancient, vague personal allegations against me.Claims of sexual harassment, and today's claim of a sexual assault, are not gaffes, gotcha questions or unserious trivial nonsense. They're rather serious charges on their face. No one is alleging that Herman Cain got the number of states wrong. They're calling into question his number one qualification for office, his business stewardship. That is per se relevant.
So once the editors of Politico started looking for people who would make claims against me, their chances of finding a few takers were probably about 100 percent. These people will not give their names. The so-called "witnesses" who purportedly corroborated their stories also will not give their names. That's about what you would expect when people are engaging in a "hatchet job," as it's been described by Joseph Fassler, who was chairman of the National Restaurant Association board when I was there.The women aren't anonymous. At least one filed a claim at the time, and a second went public today. Second, they didn't "take up" Politico's offer to make up lies about Herman Cain. They made the accusations 12 years ago. They're simply repeating them today.
It's easy to make accusations when, by virtue of your anonymity, you don't have to be held accountable for the claims you're making. It's easy to publish them when, like Politico, you don't follow basic rules of journalism by naming your sources or giving any details whatsoever about what supposedly happened.
Contrary to the belief of experts, so wise and learned in the ways of politics, I do know what the established rules say I am supposed to do. I simply refuse to do it.Clearly.
