Scandal-mired Herman Cain forced to pull out of race

HERMAN Cain last night quit the race to become Republican nominee for the US presidency following a string of sexual harassment allegations and a claim of a 13-year affair.

The Georgia businessman, 65, announced he was pulling out at the opening of what was to be a new campaign headquarters in Atlanta.

The offices were rented when Cain took a surprise lead in the contest for the nomination to take on president Barack Obama in next year’s presidential elections.

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“As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign,” he told supporters. “Because of the continued distraction and the continued hurt caused me and my family.”

It is the final twist in a saga that has taken Cain from being a rank outsider to surprise front-runner to embattled scandal-sheet fodder.

With his standing in the polls in free-fall and his fund-raising efforts stalled, some campaign aides were already saying on Friday that they fully expected Cain to call it a day.

He returned to his suburban Atlanta home on Friday to face his wife, Gloria, after a week of lurid allegations. It was the first time they had been together since Ginger White, 46, came forward last Monday and said she and Cain had carried on a long-term love affair.

“My wife and family comes first. I’ve got to take that into consideration,” Cain said. His wife accompanied him on stage at yesterday’s announcement, where he said the allegations about his private life were “not true”.

Instead, he said concern over the toll the allegations were having on his family as well as a candid assessment of whether his campaign could still attract the needed support had informed his decision.

Cain, the former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive, has never held elected office, but rose to become an unexpected front-runner in the volatile race for the Republican nomination in October.

A self-styled outsider, Cain enjoyed strong support from the conservative, anti-tax Tea Party movement which saw him as an alternative to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. His infectious 9-9-9 tax slogan – a 9 per cent tax on income, a 9 per cent business tax and a 9 per cent national sales tax – was chief among his attractions in terms of policy.

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But once in the national spotlight, Cain fumbled policy questions, leaving some to wonder whether he was fit to run for the presidency. Then it was revealed at the end of October that the National Restaurant Association had paid settlements to two women who claimed Cain sexually harassed them when he was president of the organisation.

A third woman said that Cain made inappropriate sexual advances but that she had not filed a complaint. A fourth woman also stepped forward to accuse Cain of groping her in a car in 1997. Cain has denied any wrongdoing in all cases.

The main beneficiary of Cain’s fall has been former speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, who has risen steadily in polls and in early voting states. Gingrich has emerged as the main challenger to fellow front-runner Romney.

Polls suggest Cain’s popularity has suffered as a result of the allegations. A Des Moines Register poll released last Friday showed Cain’s support plunging, with backing from 8 per cent of Republican caucus-goers in Iowa, compared with 23 per cent a month ago. The Iowa caucuses on 3 January kick off the state-by-state contests that will choose delegates to the party’s national nominating convention.

Cain’s fundraising has also fallen off. He sent an e-mail appeal to supporters on Friday asking for donations, in an attempt to gauge whether his cash support has dried up.

“I need to know that you are behind me 100 per cent,” Cain told backers. “In today’s political environment, the only way we can gauge true support is by the willingness of our supporters to invest in this effort.”

On Friday, Cain had urged backers in South Carolina to look beyond the allegations.

“There’s a lot of garbage on the internet. There’s a lot of garbage out there on the TV. There’s a lot of garbage out there about me, don’t you know? There’s a lot of misinformation out there. You have to stay informed and check out the facts for yourself,” Cain blustered.

He added: “I’m on this journey for a reason. I don’t look back.”.