Rising, rising, got to keep on rising:
The poll was conducted Oct. 31 through Nov. 3, starting the evening after Politico first reported the harassment allegations. Support for Cain was basically steady over the four nights of interviewing, even as new charges against him surfaced.
Nearly a quarter of all Republicans and GOP-leaning independents now back Cain as the party’s nominee, his best showing in Post-ABC polls this year, and up significantly from early October. At 23 percent nationally, Cain is neck-and-neck with Romney (24 percent) atop the GOP field.
Republicans should vote for whoever they want and I am sympathetic to conservatives who feel that the establishment is trying to shove Romney down their throats. At the same time, I can’t imagine allegations like this not hurting a Democratic candidate badly, among Democratic primary voters. (Before anyone goes there, this is nothing like Clinton’s impeachment, since this was not preceded by a multi-year federally-funded witch-hunt against Cain.)
fasteddie9318
Also too, there’s the little matter of, you know, consent versus harassment.
DougJ
@fasteddie9318:
That too.
Villago Delenda Est
@fasteddie9318:
Hey! These women worked for the same organization as Cain! That’s consent if I ever saw it!
/wingnut
greg
I don’t know, I still don’t think enough time has passed for the allegations to really sink in as truthful with the majority of those polled here. How long did it take for the stories around John Edwards’ affair to become credible enough to sink his candidacy? More than a week or so, surely?
Hunter Gathers
I keep hearing that conservatives will accept Mittens as the nominee, but I’m not seeing it. Voting starts in 2 months. And Willard can’t break 25% against a grifter (Cain), a moron (Perry), an asshole (Gingrich), a couple of strange Bible thumpers (La Bachmann and the Frothy Mix) a bat-shit crazy libertarian (Paul) and a nobody (Huntsman).
jibeaux
@greg:
Nahgunnahappen. Election’s only a year away.
MikeJ
It’s a pity that the story wasn’t broken by a credible news source, one like the National Enquirer.
Comrade Dread
I really don’t think the GOP voters realize just what a liability Cain will be on them if they elect him.
His tax plan is easily proven to raise taxes on the lower and middle classes while cutting taxes for the wealthy. It will end Social Security and Medicare as we know them. (Assuming this doesn’t happen in the next year anyway.)
He has zero foreign policy experience, knowledge, or curiosity in the face of a world where we’re engaged in 4 nation-states, face emerging economies and rival powers that want to exercise power in their spheres of influence; while a larger and larger portion of the Middle East continues to hate our policies more and more.
And now he has baggage that raises questions about his treatment of women.
I guess they’re betting the farm on the economy sucking enough that enough independents, moderates and women shrug and cast anti-Obama votes anyway.
curiousleo
You know what would definitely hurt a candidate? Accepting illegal campaign money. More blogs/people/reporters need to be talking about the allegation that Cain took illegal campaign money.
Rome Again
@fasteddie9318:
Thanks, I was just planning to go there and you beat me to it.
Much appreciated. :)
Poopyman
@Comrade Dread:
You realize they really truly don’t care, don’t you? Republican candidates have been touting policies that hurt their constituents for years, well before GWH Bush. GOP voters still vote them into office. Now they can see the results of all of those policies and still blithely label them as “liberal” and continue to support the right-wing money candidates. Some things never change.
Studly Pantload, Boy King of Ubekibekibekistanstan
I dunno, seems Clinton had to deal with the Gennifer Flowers imbroglio running up to the NH primary. No lawyers or hush money involved, but hers was a tale of a heart betrayed.
That said, one of Cain’s harassees may yet decide it’s worth the discomfort to come forward, and her story, if told, is still a wild card. And if any other of his marks also speaks up — well, even if it don’t sink him, it’ll at least be entertaining (watching the Cain camp deal, that is – no entertainment in seeing a woman go public with an embarrassing story that will earn her much derision from certain quarters).
Rome Again
@Comrade Dread:
As I’ve heard it, they are absolutely sure Obama cannot be re-elected in that economic climate.
Suffern ACE
Yeah, this isn’t anything like the Clinton situation. We’ll know that it is when Cain hires Dick Morris advise him on the situation.
Stooleo
Hell, Republicans don’t give a damn, the candidate just has to be part of the tribe. I bet if Timothy McVeigh was running (if he was still around, may he rot in hell) would be polling in the 30s
FlipYrWhig
@fasteddie9318: Well, of course, the whole Paula Jones case was about harassment.
Villago Delenda Est
@Poopyman:
What Poopyman said. These people are so nuts that they’ll run someone just to piss the liberals off, and, oh, by the way, drive up the turnout and insure that the “pure” Rethug candidate gets his clock cleaned, inside and out, by the near sheriff, and take down Rethug candidates for Senate and House seats, and state offices, in the process.
They’re that fucking nuts.
jl
No, it was not proceeded by a multi year federally funded witch hunt against Cain. Which is more evidence of how the current system lavishes federal largess on liberals and discriminates against conservatives.
There was no federal subsidy for the Cain sexual harassment charges, but Clinton got millions. Some poor hard working Karl Rove flunky had to pick up the phone and call Politico on his or her own dime.
That is just not fair, and if liberals would be honest with themselves and intellectually consistent for once, they would be eager to admit it.
Poopyman
@Suffern ACE:
I dunno. If there are toes to be sucked I’d bet that Herm won’t need any help.
jrg
That’s because they’re morons who think that most of us who support Obama do so because he’s black. Therefore, the obvious solution to to support someone who’s MOAR BLACKER.
It’s the same identity-based reasoning that got them to support Palin, and gets them believing that evolution (“Darwinism”) is a religion instead of a scientific theory. Not only are they stupid as shit, they’re incapable of understanding that everyone else isn’t.
Suffern ACE
@curiousleo: Shush. Sexy time. Our campaign laws are kind of arcane and technical. That would be boring plus and investigation might point to someone who is someone, and that would never do.
Brachiator
@DougJ:
Two things.
For the gabilliionth time, polls don’t mean much. No one knows how actual primary voters will factor this in. That Cain’s support is steady now just does not tell you much that is meaningful. There has not been any primary yet, as far as I can tell. People should stop talking about primary voters.
Secondly, there is little reason for anyone to have a big change of heart simply based on allegations. This should hold for any candidate of any party at any time.
Lastly (and I know some dopes will misinterpret this), a lot of people here are acting as though all sexual harassment is exactly the same, and that one should immediately impose a political death penalty as soon as the word is mentioned or an accusation raised.
This reminds me of people who need reminding that here in Southern California, Conrad Murray is being charged with involuntary manslaughter, not first degree murder, and who wonder why the sentence the prosecution is looking for is 4 years, not life. And smart people make a good case that this just should have been medical malpractice, not any kind of manslaughter.
It is not unreasonable that potential voters may weigh the allegations differently than some posters here want, especially since political campaigns are not above smear campaigns. Granpa McCain can tell you about how other Republicans had tried to smear him in the past with despicable stuff.
Do we know any details in the Cain Scrutiny Case?
Bubba
Please allow me to suggest a few data points of other similar scandals to help you in your extrapolation in comparing the impact on Cain’s candidacy vs. your theoretical Democrat:
Clarence Thomas
David Vitter
Mark Sanborn
Anthony Weiner
Eliot Spitzer
Compare and contrast.
KG
@Hunter Gathers: wasn’t McCain written off for dead at this point in 2008? A little Google-fu suggests so.
End of the day, when GOP voters go into the voting booth and really think about choosing between the guy who is next in line (which means, in theory, he’s got some sort of relevant experience) and a challenger (who usually don’t have the relevant experience – I can’t imagine serving only as mayor, even if it is NYC or LA, can count for much; let alone no government experience).
Calouste
@Bubba:
Sanborn was a prospective presidential candidate for 2012, so his affair definitely had some impact. Although I wouldn’t be surprised to see him running in 2016.
Villago Delenda Est
@Bubba:
Do you mean “Mark Sanford”, the “let’s hike the Appalachians all the way to Buenos Aires” guy?
Svensker
@MikeJ:
Actually, when I worked in Hollywood, National Enquirer was considered pretty reliable on the trash gossip stuff.
Boots Day
@jrg: I was just about to say the same thing. Conservatives honestly believe that liberals voted for Obama only because he’s black. They now think that Cain would do something like split the black vote with Obama, plus draw in a fair number of white centrists who pulled the D lever last time.
Catsy
Apparently Cain loves the Koch:
harlana
Okay, so they don’t give a damn if their candidate sexually harassed anyone, that’s a given and we shouldn’t be surprised.
What IS a problem, for these folks, is his handling of the situation – if you don’t even have sense and sanity enough to consult your lawyer before running your mouth to the media about a rather substantial sexual harassment settlement,and changing your story 5 times a day, you really have no business running for president.
This doesn’t concern them at all? Apparently not.
Johnny Gentle (famous crooner)
This is because Democrats aren’t fucking crazy and don’t think sexual harassment is just bitchy feminists who can’t take a joke.
Also, too, the surest way to get Republicans to support anything is to tell them they shouldn’t. They’re the party of “No, I will NOT eat my vegetables.” So if society says that Herman Cain should not have sexually harassed women, then dammit, we’ll rally around him because NO ONE tells ME what to do or think!
hells littlest angel
If it turns out that what Cain said to those women that made them uncomfortable was that he wanted to shove his Romney down their throats, well then, the nomination will be up for grabs.
MikeJ
@Svensker: The Enquirer broke the Edwards story too. My comment wasn’t a slam of the Enquirer, it was a slam of Politico.
Studly Pantload, Boy King of Ubekibekibekistanstan
@harlana
But – but – but, it feeds so neatly into the narrative that the guy is just so gosh-darnably unconventional! If he can keep the public so off-balance about his reaction to a personal scandal, imagine how off balance he’ll keep bad-actor heads of state and al Qaeda! Why, his equivocations will twist them into such knots that they won’t know what hit ’em when the bombs start dropping.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
It would sink a Dem presidential candidate in a similar phase of the campaign process. Again, IOKIYAR style reporting that dominates the Villager narrative is in full swing. Nothing new here people, move along.
The Repup establishment is trying to shove Romney down their throats because of what I’ve said before: they think they’ll lose in 2012 no matter what the economy looks like but are looking to avoid Goldwater 1964 downticket–and that would happen if the
gets the nomination. Okay, Huntsman wouldn’t gut the downticket candidates but the rest?
The Repub establishment is skeeered, very, very skeered. Of course they have only themselves to blame, a generation of cozying up to these fucking nutjobs is now coming back to haunt them.
Villago Delenda Est
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
This, this, this.
The Presidency is a write off at this point, it’s avoiding massive collateral damage to the rest of the brand that is the objective.
Rove may be unspeakably evil, but he’s not stupid…just often blinded by his arrogance.
MBunge
Okay, I just breezed through the other comments…but I can’t be the first person in the thread to mention the words “Paula Jones”, can I?
Mike
Rhoda
It’s not polite to say, but I honestly don’t see this Republican party voting in a Mormon nominee. They may do so out of a deep desire to won, but I don’t see it. And Morning Joe gave the game away when he said he hears folk saying they’re willing to let Obama win than go for Romney. That’s huge, Scarborough is talking about the evangelicals and business types.
We’ll see when voters actually get a chance to have their say. If Cain gets to win Iowa or Perry comes back to run, Mittens has to worry about the political gravity going against him as it did Hillary in ’08.
dr. luba
@Hunter Gathers: WRT Santorum, Charles Pierce says it best:
Seriously, the amount of time that Rick Santorum spends thinking about other people’s lady parts, and what some men may be doing with their pee-pees, is highly disturbing. I mean, if the bus driver spent as much time talking about this stuff as Santorum does, you’d report him to the cops and carry your kids to school ten miles on your back.
Your Democracy, ladies and gentlemen.
Cherish it.
boss bitch
Catsy
@MBunge: My magical powers of Ctrl-F suggest that “Paula Jones” made an appearance in comment #16.
Snark Based Reality
@fasteddie9318:
Consent can be assumed when you see a woman is:
1. Not in the kitchen
2. Not barefoot
3. Not pregnant
4. Not wearing a wedding ring
5. Older than 12
I mean she was just ASKING for harassment. She was clearly lacking a man in her life to dominate her. It was the Lord’s work for Cain to step up and fill the gap.
Catsy
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage: Granted the others are fucking nutjobs, but they are more or less reliably conservative nutjobs that the base loves. They hate Multiple Choice Mitt.
I can only assume they think the downticket effects of depressed turnout from Romney would be less severe than the effects of running unhinged lunatics that will only excite their base and turn off everyone else.
fasteddie9318
@FlipYrWhig: Yes, but he wasn’t impeached over Paula Jones.
CaliCat
I stopped reading at “sympathetic to conservatives”
abo gato
The hypocrisy of the R’s just drives me fucking nuts. We all know that if during Obama’s campaign there had been a mere whisper of anything like this from him he would have been excoriated. Everywhere, everyday. For months. But since it is a Black R candidate with allegations of sexual harassment, then it’s like yay for their team. They must hate women more than they hate Blacks. Fer craps sake, he’s gained in the polls and gotten tons of donations since this came out. What the fuck is wrong with conservatives?
SFAW
DougJ –
Just because I got nothin’ better to do, nor anything intelligent to write (wow, what a surprise): the word is “risin’ “, not “rising”.
And it’s “Mr.”, not “Mister”
Sincerely,
SFAW
Proprietor and CEO
InsufferablePrigs’R’Us
xian
@abo gato: well there was the rumor of his secret ghey affair with a pedophile
kmeyer the lurker
This is so simple. The 27 percenters don’t give a rats ass about sexual harrassment. They think its fine.
FlipYrWhig
@fasteddie9318: True, and I read the question and answer faster than I should have (and missed the important word “impeachment” in the OP).
But my point was more that Clinton did in fact have to face sexual harassment allegations (Jones, Willey, Broaddrick, not all of which were deemed credible in the end) along with scandals about consensual affairs (Flowers, Lewinsky).
FlipYrWhig
@kmeyer the lurker: They think it’s fine _and_ they think they’re owed some consideration by the Establishment Media. Because as they see it Clarence Thomas was savaged by harassment allegations but Clinton got away with it. So unless Cain gets away with it too it’s unfair, like, many times over.
Rome Again
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
Very interesting, especially considering the Tea Party nutjobs are dealing with a completely different reality (a fantasy, really) where they think they can’t lose if they go with Cain and the surest way to lose is to accept a Romney candidacy. I predict these people will probably not be speaking to each other a year from now.