I suppose there’s some logic behind Herman Cain’s campaign launching a “Women for Cain” initiative. The Republican candidate has been accused of repeatedly sexually harassing women in the workplace, as well as having carried on a lengthy adulterous affair, so it stands to reason the campaign would start taking steps to address the candidate’s apparent problem.
But what campaign operative thought this was a good idea?
While Herman Cain weighs whether to stay in the race after being accused of carrying on a decade-plus affair, the campaign is looking to repair the damage his various alleged improprieties have caused with women supporters. His website just went live with a new “Women For Cain” section where female supporters can share their stories — and slam his accusers as “vindictive,” “jealous,” “unstable,” and “husbandless.”
Seriously.
This isn’t an instance in which some unknown Cain supporters wrote something obnoxious in an open online forum, and the campaign could plausibly deny having anything to do with it. Rather, the Cain campaign collected statements from several supporters, and published them all in one place.
In other words, Cain’s team wanted to be associated with a testimonial like this one: “Dear Mrs. Cain Don’t pay attention to these pathetic husbandless women who are jealous of women like you in happy long-term marriages. These vindictive women can’t find a husband or keep one. They are like stalkers who try to latch on to any man who shows a bit of kindness or attention to them. When these unstable women come out of the woodwork to make accusations about Herman just say, ‘Honey, get a life, I believe my husband.’”
Cain’s track record on these issues is already atrocious, lashing out wildly at his accusers and even trying to intimidate others before they come forward. But creating a website to promote scathing, misogynistic testimonials — under the auspices of “Women for Cain” — targeting Cain’s accusers and alleged victims is madness.
At this point, Cain is not only destroying his political ambitions, but he’s also damaging his reputation so severely that his post-failure career options are likely to be very limited.
