Herman Cain Drops Out

[Panzersharkcat]

Link.

Herman Cain, the insurgent populist whose candidacy has been ensnared by allegations of sexual impropriety, said Saturday that he is leaving the race for the Republican presidential nomination, saying that the allegations have cast a "cloud of doubt over me and this campaign."

"As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign," he said at an event in Atlanta. "I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt . . . on me, on my family, not because we are not fighters, not because I am not a fighter."

Cain's campaign had sent mixed signals as to his future since Ginger White, an Atlanta woman who claims to have had an affair with Cain for more than a decade, went public with her story earlier this week. While Cain has said he has been "reassessing" his candidacy, he also, at times, has been fiercely defiant, suggesting that unnamed enemies have been trying to do him in and vowing to press forward.

"The pundits would like for me to shut up, drop out and go away," he said. "I am not going to be silenced, and I am not going away."

White's claims came after Cain faced weeks of allegations of sexual misconduct by at least three women stemming from his tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Assn. in the late 1990s.

Even as Cain continued to decry the claims as "false" and "baseless," the sheer weight of the scandal has taken a brutal toll on the campaign, diverting Cain from advocating the "9-9-9" tax plan that helped turn him into a household name almost overnight, costing him financial support, and damaging him in the polls.

He was also hurt by a series of costly gaffes and confused moments, particularly with regard to foreign affairs, that exposed the Atlanta businessman's lack of experience on the national political stage. Added together, the tumult persuaded conservatives looking for a champion to turn elsewhere, with most now casting their eyes at Newt Gingrich.

[Iroscato]

So, one dickhead drops out of a race between multiple dickheads, all of whom are planning on going into a grand finale race against another dickhead.
Yawn.

[Mr Bean]

So, one dickhead drops out of a race between multiple dickheads, all of whom are planning on going into a grand finale race against another dickhead.
Yawn.

And so speaks the ignorant if you think there's no difference in the brand of dickheads. Give you a hint only four of them will have have Britian helping us invade Iran.

On to the story at hand more and more it looks like Paul or Newt are going to grab another five points in the next public poll.

[BrooklynRedLeg]

One asshole down, six more to go. Bye, Cain, you shmuck. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

[Terralthra]

The Onion has perhaps the simplest commentary as one of their headlines.

[Civil War Man]

This can be pretty bad news for Romney's campaign. Every right-wing tea party candidate that drops out increases the probability that they will actually unite behind one of the survivors for more than a week or two. His main hope for getting the GOP nod is keeping the ultra-conservative field as crowded as possible so he'd be able to squeak by as a consensus candidate when the dust clears.

[Simon_Jester]

I dunno. I think he might have a viable chance of winning by simply going toe to toe with a Tea Party survivor and demonstrating that he's just a better candidate: looks more like a president and less like a screaming lunatic. While far-right voters have a huge effect on Republican primaries, they're not the entire voting base in the primaries, and even people on the far right may, in their heart, prefer a Republican who isn't a complete flake.

[Thanas]

I am sure nobody, nobody saw that one coming.

[weemadando]

Now we'll never have a black president.

[Iroscato]

Now we'll never have a black president.

I guess...America just isn't ready yet.

[Gandalf]

I am sure nobody, nobody saw that one coming.

I thought Perry, Santorum or Bachmann would have dropped out before Cain.

Colour me surprised by that turn of events.

[Bakustra]

Herman Cain quotes Pokemon in concession speech.

This is already one of the most surreal presidential elections in American history, and I can only hope it keeps getting dumber.

[Broomstick]

I'm sort of hoping that, no matter how surreal, we don't have a repeat of the Wednesday in November we all woke up and didn't know who was the next PotUS was even though the election was over. Now THAT was weird.

[bobalot]

Now we'll never have a black president.

Why not? They have already had a Secret Kenyan Muslim who hates America.

[Zaune]

So, does anyone think he actually did cheat on his wife? Just out of idle curiosity, you know.

[mingo]

So, does anyone think he actually did cheat on his wife? Just out of idle curiosity, you know.

Truth is I couldn't give Shit less if he did or didn't, he was never going to be the nominee.

I had said the same of Newt, but now I begin to wonder. Newt actually has some exprience and may be able to mount a half credible campaign against Obama. It's true that he's spouting the same crazy bullshit all the Republicans spout, but having a reasonable idea disqualifies you from being a Republican, so he might just make it. I do think he'll be crushed by Obama.Romney would have a tough time beating him, but he could drawn some independent that Newt can't. Remains to be seen, but Cain was always a sideshow.

[Patrick Degan]

Newt's too much of a loose cannon for the comfort of the powers-that-be within the GOP, so expect them, through their various tools, to plant a mine or three under his campaign trail. As it is, though, he's another candidate who appeals to the hardcore base but couldn't get general support if his life depended upon it. I expect him to fail within six weeks.

[Lord Zentei]

Just a quick recap:

Gingrich 26.6% (rising)
Romney 20.4% (holding steady)
Cain 14.0% (OUT)
Paul 8.0% (holding steady)
Perry 7.2% (going down)
Bachmann 4.6% (meh)
Santorum 2.6% (points and laughs)
Huntsman 2.4% (sigh)

There really aren't any Tea Party candidates left. Cain is out, and Perry is continuing his slide into oblivion. Bachman hasn't managed a rally after the fall of her Tea Party compatriots and isn't going to now. It's all down to Gingrich and Romney - and if the establishment want someone other than Gingrich, that doesn't leave them with only one option. So right now, it's all a question of whether the disaffected Tea Party members will be able to maintain their support for Gingrich or whether Romney's shadowy overlords will be able to the sabotage the Gingrich campaign.

Last time I posted from this site, I had thought Ron Paul could have snapped up some votes from Perry and Cain, but it looks like that they were all about the social conservatism and not really about small government after all (who would have though it!) so much for that, then. As for Santorum and Hunstman, no chance in hell. Good riddance on the former, too bad on the latter.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Just a quick recap:

Gingrich 26.6% (rising)
Romney 20.4% (holding steady)
Cain 14.0% (OUT)
Paul 8.0% (holding steady)
Perry 7.2% (going down)
Bachmann 4.6% (meh)
Santorum 2.6% (points and laughs)
Huntsman 2.4% (sigh)

There really aren't any Tea Party candidates left. Cain is out, and Perry is continuing his slide into oblivion. Bachman hasn't managed a rally after the fall of her Tea Party compatriots and isn't going to now. It's all down to Gingrich and Romney - and if the establishment want someone other than Gingrich, that doesn't leave them with only one option. So right now, it's all a question of whether the disaffected Tea Party members will be able to maintain their support for Gingrich or whether Romney's shadowy overlords will be able to the sabotage the Gingrich campaign.

From the very start of things the race has basically been "Who can we get OTHER then Mitt". Mitts numbers have been the save almost the whole time, meanwhile, everyone else goes up and down as they are considered as "anyone other then Mitt." It started with Bachmann, who started with huge numbers and then melted down, then the flood of support was transfered to Perry, who also melted down, then it fled to Cain, who just finished melting down, and NOW it seems to be going to Newt.

At no time throughout all of this have Mitts numbers gone up (or down) at all. This I would think shows just how massive the dislike for him is. That the far far right are willing to support an ever incresing list of dismal failures, rather then support Mitt. In another few weeks when Newt will inevitablly melt down, I don't know to whom support will flee to, but It won't be Mitt.

One has to wodner, if Mitt DOES get the party nod, it may well be a kiss of death to the rigths chances in 2012. Which is ironic because Mitt is the ONLY person who could appeal to the mindless middle in the country without looking a total nutcase.

[Mr Bean]

What you all are forgetting is one simple fact.
There's not that many weeks left. First primary is January 3rd
There's not time for the melt-down and re-emergence of another option meaning we are going to see either a Newt VS Romney primary with Ron Paul picking up a few contests or we might see.... A Ron Paul VS Mittens primary which Ron Paul could potentially run away with as the last vote indicates Paul is well placed to win Iowa if Newt self destructs before Xmas... which he kind has to if he wants to self destruct in time not to win Iowa.

I'll wait for Nate over at 538 to run the numbers again but we have two more debates before the first primary from folks who matter (ABC on the 10th, Fox on the 15th) in which Newt could get the kind of melt down everyone is predicting. Except Newt is never one to be bad in a debate, it's always the extraneous things that crush him. But it is an excellent place for the other also rans and Ron Paul to savage him. Newt's been running pretty positively to date so those debates will be ones to follow to see if Mittens and Paul go super negative on him. Which is a problem for Mittens as pretty much anything except for his personal life is an attack on himself.

*Edit
Another important fact to consider, Fox News is not a Mitt fan either, he's the only one in the field they never got a paycheck to.

[UnderAGreySky]

Here's a hypothesis I'd like to run by SDN people:

Do you think that with today's media focus - with the internet, blogging, twitter and increased TV coverage (the 90s had nothing compared to the last 11 years IMO) - the incumbent US president always stands a much better chance of winning?

I say this because the primaries have not yet begun, but the top Republican contenders have spent the last six-twelve months tearing each other apart. Doesn't this hand a whole list of talking points for the incumbent campaign a whole year before he/she begins to factor in an opponent? It's easier to remember people's flaws than their pluses anyway so that's what will stick in memories. And the incumbent campaign can use this to remove potential threats - last month I saw a statement by the Democrats praising Mitt Romney on his insurance programme; what better way to alienate him even further from Republican voters than a kiss of death?

Just my thoughts, I'm finding the whole process fascinating in spite of being crushed by the load of tracking the ten billion debates happening.

[Flagg]

Just a quick recap:

Gingrich 26.6% (rising)
Romney 20.4% (holding steady)
Cain 14.0% (OUT)
Paul 8.0% (holding steady)
Perry 7.2% (going down)
Bachmann 4.6% (meh)
Santorum 2.6% (points and laughs)
Huntsman 2.4% (sigh)

There really aren't any Tea Party candidates left. Cain is out, and Perry is continuing his slide into oblivion. Bachman hasn't managed a rally after the fall of her Tea Party compatriots and isn't going to now. It's all down to Gingrich and Romney - and if the establishment want someone other than Gingrich, that doesn't leave them with only one option. So right now, it's all a question of whether the disaffected Tea Party members will be able to maintain their support for Gingrich or whether Romney's shadowy overlords will be able to the sabotage the Gingrich campaign.

Last time I posted from this site, I had thought Ron Paul could have snapped up some votes from Perry and Cain, but it looks like that they were all about the social conservatism and not really about small government after all (who would have though it!) so much for that, then. As for Santorum and Hunstman, no chance in hell. Good riddance on the former, too bad on the latter.

More importantly national polls for primaries are totally useless.

[Lord Zentei]

^ Not when the gap between the leading candidates and the trailing candidates becomes this high.

At no time throughout all of this have Mitts numbers gone up (or down) at all. This I would think shows just how massive the dislike for him is. That the far far right are willing to support an ever incresing list of dismal failures, rather then support Mitt. In another few weeks when Newt will inevitablly melt down, I don't know to whom support will flee to, but It won't be Mitt.

The Tea Party candidates were all stealing votes from each other. The fact that Romney is a centrist flip-flopper (and a Mormon) means they'll go to the most credible right winger who's left.

[Simon_Jester]

Zentei, I don't disagree but it won't happen right away. In Iowa they'll still be split among multiple candidates- Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich- because there will still be multiple far-right candidates.

After a few primaries, some of the far-right candidates will drop out of the running, and it'll reduce to a two-way or three-way contest, probably Romney vs. Gingrich vs. (others?).

Gingrich is less of an outright flake than Cain, Bachmann, or Perry, so I think he's more likely to be able to take the same surge of support they benefited from and turn it into a lasting support base.

[Jim Raynor]

As someone who only started following presidential nomination process (rather than the general election) closely this election cycle, has it always been this bad? Because Republicans have produced an entire series sideshow acts, each one climbing to the top before crashing and burning before our very eyes. Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, and now Herman Cain. They're not just people I disagree with, they're total jokes.