For a week, Herman Cain stumbled responding to allegations that he sexually harassed four women. He denied it. Then he didn’t remember specifics. Then he sort of remembered details.
He blamed a Republican campaign for the leaks. Then the Democrats.
His reactions helped ignite the story, political experts say. And continuing coverage of the allegations took its toll. The Associated Press reported that Cain’s “positive intensity score” with Republican voters fell from 34 percent in early October to 25 percent last week.
Now Cain must move quickly to control the damage.
Most of the campaign consultants, lawyers and crisis communications experts interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution say Cain would do himself a favor by getting his story together, putting his side out there, then shutting up on the matter. He should change the subject by talking about new policy initiatives, they say.
“It’s very simple, when you’re in a hole, stop digging,” said Matt Towery, an Atlanta pollster who has managed Republican campaigns. “He should go dark for a while and come back with something new. He needs for something to change the news cycle.”
A CBS News poll released last week shows that, while he still leads the Republican field, Cain has lost support from women, dropping from 28 percent in October to 15 percent.
And last week, when state Sen. Renee Unterman endorsed him, the timing was seen by some as a move to bolster female support.
Tom Perdue, who has run political campaigns for more than 30 years, including those of governors and U.S. senators, has seen it all.
“In Georgia, we’ve elected people involved in bankruptcies, doing drugs, who have had terrible divorces, real estate scams and schemes,” he said.
To get past such problems, their campaigns had to employ a straightforward formula, he said, “You hit it head on and then do what you can to change the subject.”
“But he did it backward. He tried to change the subject, then tried to hit it,” Perdue said. “I don’t think many people believe what is alleged is real, but he has done some damage to his credibility. Going forward, he needs to sit down, review all he said and cull out the mistakes. There can be no more mistakes. This is serious business. He has to be exact.”
Late in the week, Cain was working to generate new buzz. In Michigan, the always quotable Cain told supporters “How you beat Obama? Beat him with a Cain!”
His campaign has hired a hard-nosed anti-defamation lawyer, created an Internet blitz to distribute his story and has bragged about some recent solid fundraising to show supporters he is still a viable candidate.
The hiring of Atlanta attorney Lin Wood, who has carved out a reputation fighting slander and libel cases, came after hearing that accuser Sharon Bialek, the first of two to go public, had hired celebrity attorney Gloria Allred and was set to hold a press conference.
Wood quickly countered, saying Cain is the victim here.
“It’s difficult to respond to vague and ambiguous statements,” Wood said in an interview. “If you judge him on these type of accusations, then everybody is at risk.”
The hiring of Wood, called a “pit bull” by other lawyers, is widely seen as an effort by the campaign to frighten away would-be accusers. It’s a notion that Wood does not dismiss.
“Anyone who uses the media to make accusations should seriously consider the consequences of doing so,” Lin said. “There will be intense scrutiny of their lives.”
Cain’s campaign has put out a press release entitled, “Who is Sharon Bialek?” It noted she “has had a long and troubled history” in which she has filed for bankruptcy, been sued six times and has had “nine employers over the last 17 years.”
Karen Kraushaar, one of the women who made allegations, talked about holding a joint press conference with the other women but backed off this week.
It is OK for Wood to be on the attack, Towery said, but Cain should not go with a hard-line approach.
“Usually, defiance doesn’t work,” Towery said. “He talks about being a good businessman. He should remember the customer is always right. He could say, ‘If they perceived me that way, then I apologize.’ ”
Cain’s spin on Bialek can be found on a website called Caintruth.com, which pops up on the top of the list of websites that appear during a Google search of Bialek’s and Cain’s names. The Cain camp paid the Internet search engine to place their website on the top of the list when people search out such terms.
“When looking for information, a lot of people’s default is to go to Google and go with the first link they see,” said Brian Davis, technical director of Active Engagement, the firm that manages much of Cain’s online efforts. “Doing that, we can control the message a bit.”
Massaging the message on Google and through other online avenues like Twitter and Facebook show that the Cain continues to wage a guerilla campaign that has been, to date, successful.
Cain, on his Caintruth.com website, said he refuses to “play by these rules” of the modern American campaign.
“The process by which we choose our presidents has become so warped that, when something like this happens, the media and political strategists start grading you on whether you play an absurd game by their absurd rules,” said the site.
Some crisis management experts say Cain botched his response and have been playing catch-up since.
“People expect their candidates to act presidential when they are faced with a challenges,” said Steve Behm, general manager of the public relations firm Edelman’s Atlanta office. “That is an indication of how they will act in office.”
The allegations so far might have tarnished Cain, but they are not fatal, said Atlanta lawyer Robert Highsmith, who advises many Republican office holders.
“Part of Herman Cain’s approach is that he’s a fresh face without the polish and veneer of the professional politicians; people are tired of that,” Highsmith said. “He’s a genuine person, not the product of image consulting. That’s why people are giving him a break.”
They are also giving him donations, Cain’s campaign says.
On Thursday, the campaign said it had raised $9 million since Oct. 1, twice what it raised in the previous five months. The release noted that a quarter of the donations came in the past 10 days, roughly about when the scandal broke.
Chris Carpenter, a Democratic consultant who has managed campaigns in Georgia and South Carolina, said keeping the financial spigots open two months out from the Iowa caucuses is vital.
“They’re trying to communicate to the political class and to potential donors that they are still a viable campaign, that ‘We are not going away,’” he said. “Money begets money. Fundraising is critical.”
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