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The exceedingly strange endeavor known as Herman Cain’s presidential campaign appears to be inching closer to an end.
Businessman Herman Cain told senior members of his campaign that he is reassessing whether or not to remain in the Republican presidential race on a conference call this morning.
One adviser said that Cain will ponder his prospects over the next few days and will make a decision by the end of the week. Cain will keep his current campaign schedule.
It’s worth noting that Cain admitted in September that he’d considered dropping out of the race, but changed his mind after winning the “Presidency 5” straw poll in Florida. Apparently, when it looked like he had a reason to stick around, Cain was willing to keep his campaign going.
Two months later, Cain’s support is evaporating, and he’s now forced to deal with revelations he may have had a lengthy adulterous affair, which he only ended shortly before kicking off his campaign. His path to the GOP nomination is increasingly hard to see, so it stands to reason Cain might be eyeing the exits.
The Cain campaign has already conceded that the candidate is, in fact, “reassessing” whether or not to drop out. When TPM contacted campaign spokesperson J.D. Gordon for a comment on the state of Cain’s candidacy, Gordon’s full statement read, “We’re moving forward.”
At least for now, that is.
Remember, once talk of a withdrawal starts, it’s very difficult to make it stop. Every question from every reporter will be more or less the same: when will Cain drop out? Even if the candidate were to shift gears and recommit to the race, the campaign is likely to fall into a spiral — donors don’t want to write checks for a candidate who may not be in the race much longer; activists don’t want to volunteer for a campaign that’s nearing its end; etc.
Tick, tock.
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TR on November 29, 2011 12:26 PM:
"Remember, once talk of a withdrawal starts, it’s very difficult to make it stop."
Did we really need these details from Cain's mistress?
mmm on November 29, 2011 12:36 PM:
Somewhere out there, there is a cheesy dress with a pizza stain on it.
c u n d gulag on November 29, 2011 12:39 PM:
I think you misunderstood, Steve.
Whether he stays or goes, I think he's looking for new women to harass.
After all, he was once a fairly serious candidate for the Republicans, as he'll tell every woman.
So, he's not reassessing - but re-assing.
Danp on November 29, 2011 12:48 PM:
What would Tony Soprano do?
berttheclock on November 29, 2011 12:55 PM:
So sad. He could have ended up being the African-American Warren Harding in a hotel room in San Francisco. Just about as "intelligent" and as horny.
But, how will this affect his upcoming Foreign Policy speech in Michigan? I intended to stay riveted, unless Home Shopping Network had some marathon playing. He might say "I never took that woman to a hotel in Libya".
DAY on November 29, 2011 1:00 PM:
About all those campaign donations: Will they be returned, or will they be used to buy more books from Cain's publishing company? Inquiring minds want to know. . .
Josef K on November 29, 2011 1:01 PM:
The exceedingly strange endeavor known as Herman Cain’s presidential campaign appears to be inching closer to an end.
Pity. I was kind of looking forward to watching him self-destruct on the convention floor.
Bob M on November 29, 2011 1:02 PM:
"Moving forward". Under the circumstances, not the best choice of words.
sick-n-effn-tired. on November 29, 2011 1:04 PM:
"Cain will keep his current campaign schedule"
This involves making whistle stops and flogging his latest book.
Which was what it was about from the beginning.
Now we will hear the caterwauling from the right how the poor black man was picked on by the LIBRUL MEDIA
FriscoSF on November 29, 2011 1:09 PM:
URGENT !
Memo to Herman Cain
Check with Nude Gingrich on handling Adultery questions
This is a simple process
First, Attack the 'Left Wing' Media....
Marko on November 29, 2011 1:32 PM:
I love the smell of burnt TOAST in the morning
Snarki, child of Loki on November 29, 2011 1:34 PM:
@DAY:"About all those campaign donations: Will they be returned..?"
Of course not! If Cain drops out, he gets to KEEP the campaign money as his personal bonus.
Ya know, it takes a lot of cash to play "butt doctor" with all those women!
schtick on November 29, 2011 1:35 PM:
I think Cain was supposed to be "filler" for the party debates and run up to the time when they would choose "their" main man. I think things got away from them and they discovered how "dumbed" down they made their party and their sheep.
All they have left now is dumb and dumber.
crapcha....rodrighi First....poor rod
Mimikatz on November 29, 2011 1:48 PM:
Cain was never really running for President, just promoting his books and himself. The GOP tolerated him as a beard for it's racism so long as he reman Ed marginal. But then he took off, and with that came scrutiny he hadn't expected. So for the sake of his family he has to quit the race.
The deplorable GOP field is not only the result of the Foxification of the GOP base, but also the celebration of wealth as the main if not only yardstick of worth. Now they are a party of grifters and suckers, and this year's spectacle is the result.
sparrow on November 29, 2011 1:57 PM:
Moving forward alright...to the first exit on the right.
T2 on November 29, 2011 2:37 PM:
Thinking that 6, maybe 7 women have now, without any collusion between them-without even knowing each other- come forward with false accusations about the same man as part of a mystical lie planed by Cain's opponents is a stretch too far. One or two, maybe.
No, Herman Cain is a dog. And Herman Cain knows it. And Herman Cain actually told some of his "handlers" early on that there may be some issues along these lines. But Herman Cain ran for president anyway. The only thing I can say at this point is that for the Republican Party to put this guy out on stage, for GOPers to actually "support" him for the nomination is an unprecedented embarrassment to the GOP....or it least it would be if the GOP was capable of embarrassment on anything..which they are not. Hence we now have Newt.
MNRD on November 29, 2011 3:12 PM:
I never thought that Cain had a chance to get the nomination. The Republican Party may be out of touch with reality in certain respects, but they are not foolish enough to allow a rank amateur to become the standard bearer of their party. Bachmann is less of an amateur than Cain, but she is still way too amateurish to have ever had a real shot at the nomination. Gingrich has a real chance because he's a professional. Yes, he's a loose cannon, but he is a professional. And having been Speaker of the House is a very big feather to have in your cap - he was third in line to the Presidency.
Furthermore, Romney seems to be unnerved by the rise of Gingrich in a way that he wasn't unnerved by the rise of Bachmann, Perry, or Cain. Perry was a genuine threat until the debates - once Romney saw what a dreadful debater Perry was, he knew that he had Perry's number. Of the not-Romneys to have emerged, Gingrich is by far the biggest threat to Romney - and the Romney campaign seems rattled by the Gingrich threat.
g on November 29, 2011 3:44 PM:
Pity. I was hoping he'd make it at least till the first caucus.