Does anyone think that Herman Cain may have been set up?

[Matariki]

Not to say that he didn't sexually harass women - in fact, skeletons in his closet very well may have been one of his qualifications.

I just can't see the Republican power structure actually letting him run as a candidate but I think he served a purpose for them. One that allowed them a way to address their ideas of race issues. I just saw that very, very weird 'Yellow Flowers' ad and there was some very odd stuff going there. I'd say there was some subliminal and not so subliminal subtext. Or as a friend of mine put it, the whole thing was an exercise in cognitive dissonance which is a typical way of getting messages past peoples' rational thinking. I'm thinking that his whole absurd campaign may have been serving that purpose.

I don't think he was ever intended to be the *actual* candidate and skeletons in his closet may have been a fail safe. Something strike me as odd having a pretty blond teabag republican suddenly in the news. If any of this is true, I hope it backfires on them. They deserve Herman Cain as their 2012 candidate.

[Vincardog]

1. Cain's only job has been to push the Koch shit. There was never any real Cain campaign

[dembotoz]

9. set himself up like sarah p on the green, green public speaking gravy train

if he were to be electied?
set for life

[HopeHoops]

2. No.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. Yes, but who cares? If the allegations are false, then I think he's been dealt a great injustice.

But if they are true, then so be it. Whoever set him up did the right thing.

[pnwmom]

4. No, no , no.

This isn't helping the Republicans. They would like to be running an anti-Obama campaign now, with the candidates only competing to see who could best lie about Obama.

[Matariki]

6. It's certainly helping Romney.

[pnwmom]

I don't think so. But maybe the Grinch,

who got to pal around with Cain the other night. His poll numbers are way up now.

[Matariki]

20. Seriously? Ugh.

That man is detestable.

[CTyankee]

34. Well, that's a joke, given gingrich's proclivities with other women!

but it wouldn't surprise me.

[Swede]

8. Nein,nein nein.

:shrug:

[roseBudd]

5. No the Tea Party is simply careening from one not Mitt to another, no one likes Santorum

and Newt is weird

to smart for Teas

[ThomWV]

7. Why are there so many posts like this lately? They all try to cast doubt ....

They look at Republican misdeeds and say, well, maybe it wasn't so a bad after all, maybe the guy had the right idea a little bit, maybe he's just misunderstood. Horseshit.

[Matariki]

15. Nowhere did I say "maybe it wasn't so bad" and perhaps you didn't actually read my post.

I'm addressing the idea that he's been a tool all along for a number of purposes. The fact that he had sexual harassment suits in his past was probably part of the plan of whoever's tool he happens to be.

I seriously doubt that the Koch Brothers and whoever else is financing his sham of a campaign ever intended for him to win the primary. He's being used probably to say things about race that they can't say - directed at Obama obviously and probably for a number of other reasons as well. Too long at the top of the polls and well there's always those old sexual harassment suits. And since that didn't seem to have enough impact, well there's the blonde lady.

[CTyankee]

10. I asked this a few days ago and lots of responses blamed Karl Rove.

Hmmm, I wonder...I certainly wouldn't put it past him...

[Lunabelle]

11. I don't think Cain was ever a serious candidate.

I think this is about a big book tour and becoming a political celebrity like Palin. He knew all along the shit would hit the fan and he doesn't care. It's about the money. He is now the CEO of Herman Cain, Inc.

[Matariki]

16. That is also a viable reason. n/t

And a little less insidious than the lines I've been thinking along.

[Rayman70]

22. Very true, but................

The same can be said of most politicians. They are all in it for the money.

[mac56]

39. All of them? In it for the money?

Well, obviously that's why you and I have jobs. But I bet that for every politician you name who's only in it for the money, I can name another one who doesn't need the money at all.

[Lint Head]

12. When you're dealing with billionaire control freaks like the Koch Heads anything's possible.

[Historic NY]

13. So far all the accusations and stories originated from Republicans...

What does that tell you? Victim #4 is a registered Republican also. Rush Limpballs is probably off the hook too.

[SheilaT]

14. There's a lot wrong with your reasoning.

The very notion that he was "set up", that the allegations of harassment are totally made up does not appear to be valid, as more and more women step forward. Despite the widespread (male) notion that women just make this stuff up quite casually, in reality most women don't report these things, so there's always a lot more out there than we ever know about.

The Republican power structure (and for that matter the Democratic power structure also) does not function in the way you suggest. People run for office who want to win. People who run for office usually believe they actually have a chance to win, no matter what it might look like to someone else.

Likewise, it's beyond absurd to suggest that he'd run, knowing full well that these allegations would come out and derail his candidacy. No one is that much of a fool. My take is that to him what happened was so trivial that it just didn't matter, despite an actual settlement with two women.

[Matariki]

18. Does anyone actually read posts beyond the subject line?

I never said the allegations were made up. I'd love to discuss this with you but would request that you read my post first.

[SheilaT]

45. Did you read my post?

I pointed out the specific flaws in each of your claims.

[MADem]

17. No, nay, never.

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, shame on me.

Fool me three times....unhhhh, mmmmm, won't git fooled agin!

Fool me four times--come on, the guy is guilty as sin!

I don't think he thought he'd get as far as he did--he jumped in the race for one primary reason--to sell that stupid book of his. I think he was as shocked as anyone that his candidacy took off as much as it did.

[Matariki]

30. The book thing is actually the simplest and most direct explanation

and you are probably correct. I've been thinking along lines of who is using him and for what reasons.

[JuniperLea]

19. None of them are serious candidates...

They are all expendable.

I'm not sure what the end game is here in this game the Pubbies are playing, but this is all from them. Every bit of it. They had to have known his past. Just like they know Bachmann is as vapid as the day is long.

They are only running people they know full well cannot beat Obama. All this whipping people to a froth is beyond my imagination... I guess I just can't force myself to think like a Pubbie!

[Matariki]

31. It's weird isn't it.

I just can't wrap my head around it. It's so stupid that I can't help but think there is some deep and insidious master plan. When it's probably just the Republican Party imploding from too much Tea.

[JuniperLea]

41. Haahaaa!! Too much tea...

No wonder they need so many portapotties!

Yeah, it's the weirdest thing. Not one serious candidate in the bunch. Yet the die hard Pubbies stick to the game! All the Pubbies I know are trying to figure out who to get behind... that might be the safest place to be in the case of H. Cain! He can't grope what he can't see!

Bachmann puzzles me to no end. Why did they allow her to get in that spot? She makes the entire party look stupid! It surely doesn't help their party to run these idiots! The entire list is lame. Why? Who benefits from a completely lame lineup?

My only thought is that it doesn't taint any serious contender for 2016.

[FarCenter]

21. No, but it's a little odd that there aren't women from before and after his stint at NRA

Were there no women at Godfather's Pizza?

[CTyankee]

24. He may have thought he had a better shot at getting away with it at the NRA

than in his own shop. Or he might have been warned that his little pizza parlor would suffer badly from a crop of sexual harassment charges if they stuck...

[FarCenter]

33. Plus in a Washington lobbying firm, attractive women are hired to build relationships with politicos

The most gorgeous woman I've met had a job in government relations for a large corporation.

Actual sex is not part of the job, but they do provide a reality distortion field effect.

[SomethingFishy]

28. He claimed there would be "more lies" in the future...

so I'm pretty sure this is the tip of the iceberg...

Either way he was never going to get the nomination..

[CJCRANE]

23. Yes, it wouldn't surprise me. nt

[Lucinda]

25. The whole thing feels odd to me.

So I wouldn't be surprised to find out it wasn't as it seems to be.

[bemildred]

26. More like he is being taken down.

With the handiest weapon available, You could say he is being Borked.

[Enrique]

27. absolutely

like you said, he served their purpose.

[livetohike]

29. No. The Republican power structure let Sarah Palin in as a VP

candidate, so I doubt they actually looked too closely at this idiot.

[RZM]

32. Highly doubt it. The man is running for president and leading the Republican field

If you've got dirt, it's probably going to come out in those circumstances.

He wouldn't be the first man to aggressively seek a blowjob. Nor would he be the first politician to get bit in the ass by something in his past.

Seems pretty simple to me.

[Whisp]

35. he's a disgusting asshole.

and he set himself up for acting like one.

This just shows me that he never was serious about running for President, but serious about grifting like a Palin.
I'm sure he always knew these women would eventually speak, just didn't know when.

[FrenchieCat]

36. LOL!

[JoePhilly]

37. The GOP is fracturing.

[Canuckistanian]

38. These things are usually timed

For maximum effect. I don't think this is any coincidence that it's coming out now.

[Vinca]

40. I've always thought there was a good chance he was paid to run

so any notion that there are racist Republicans might be deflected. The man is uniquely unqualified for the position and has been a joke from day one. Over the weekend I heard a black woman on one of the news channels refer to his campaign as a minstrel show.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

42. The GOP powerbrokers are protecting their white knight

Romney.

[seabeyond]

43. don't care. assault, battery, harassment. shame him. nt

[Demonaut]

44. no, but if he was he did the setting up

sold his soul a long time ago

[Lil Missy]

46. Only in the sense that the new cases are revealed gradually, one at a time.

[quaker bill]

47. Perhaps but I doubt it

I think the story has always been there, but as long as he was a minor "also ran" in this race, no one was going to use it. Once he got a bump up in the polls, the oppo research came out, and because he was near the front of the pack the media picked it up and ran with it.

[Puzzledtraveller]

48. my belief exactly Matariki