Cain: Facing anonymous accusations of harassment. (AbacaUSA.com)
New Yorkers find it hard not to believe the worst of people — especially politicians. Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford, Anthony Weiner. We hear the news of their indiscretions, and we know: They did it.
Not this time, though. Herman Cain is not that guy.
Politico broke the story Sunday, in a four-byline exposé, that two women had accused Cain of sexual harassment when he worked at the National Restaurant Association. The allegations are vague and include “conversations allegedly filled with innuendo or personal questions of a sexually suggestive nature” and “physical gestures that were not overtly sexual but that made women who experienced or witnessed them uncomfortable.”
Cain told Fox news yesterday that the allegations were “totally baseless and totally false” and “never have I ever committed any kind of sexual harassment.”
He added: “If the restaurant association did a settlement, I wasn’t even aware of it and I hope it wasn’t for much. If there was a settlement, it was handled by some of the other officers at the restaurant association.”
It would be unfortunate if a good man were maligned by such ambiguous charges. While the accusers of the Politico story are anonymous, many people spoke on the record about how they couldn’t imagine the story’s being true. Former colleagues expressed their surprise at the story and defended Cain as “extremely professional” and “fair” to female staffers at the restaurant association.
I have some experience in this regard.
Excited by Cain’s US Senate campaign, I moved to Georgia in 2004 to work for him. He was an upstart, running in the Republican primary against two sitting congressmen, but he was making a serious go of it and people were talking about him.
Everywhere he went, he drew crowds. His staff raptly listened to all his speeches, which they had heard hundreds of times. He was constantly approached by people who told him that they had registered to vote for the first time because they wanted to vote for him. He was inspiring.
The election didn’t go his way, although he did beat one congressman and nearly forced a runoff with the other, despite having had no money and little name recognition.
On the last day in the campaign office, he told the staff that he’d be back, so stay tuned, and everyone believed him. Most staffers had been on campaigns before and went on to many others, but when they get together, everyone says the same thing: There was nothing like working for Cain.
None of this means that a well-spoken, influential man can’t also be a sexual harasser. People often note that when Clinton spoke to them, it felt like they were the only people in the room. Obviously, charm doesn’t preclude inappropriate behavior.
With Cain, however, his electricity comes from his authenticity. People fall for him because he is so unpolished and real. He is a serious, solid man who speaks often of the importance of family and faith. He never seems as if he is selling a line or covering up his true self.
The colleagues who defended Cain could have spoken off the record or not spoken at all. Those who know Cain would go out on this kind of limb for him. A New Yorker just hopes we don’t all fall off.
Karol Markowicz blogs at alarmingnews.com.