Herman Cain said Friday he will announce his presidential campaign’s next steps in Atlanta this weekend amid uncertainty over whether he will stay in the race following allegations of an extramarital affair.
The McDonough businessman said he would make the announcement at the grand opening of his Georgia campaign headquarters Saturday morning.
“I am reassessing because of all of this media firestorm stuff,” he said during a campaign stop in Rock Hill, S.C. “Why? Because my wife and my family come first.”
Cain also indicated his campaign is looking at its flow of financial contributions following the allegations of the affair.
“I don’t doubt the support that I have. Just look at the people who are here,” he said of the supporters who had gathered to see him in South Carolina. “We have to look at what happens to contributions. We have to reevaluate the whole strategy.”
“Tomorrow in Atlanta I will be making an announcement, but nobody is going to get me to make that prematurely. That is all that there is to that. Tomorrow we will be opening our headquarters in… Georgia where we will also clarify… exactly what the next steps are.”
Cain previously said he will return to Georgia Friday and, after gauging his wife's support, decide whether to continue his presidential campaign.
Supporters are urging Cain to stay in the race, but polls show his support is slipping. Cain said the string of allegations against him has begun to hurt his fundraising. But the campaign is operating as usual -- crafting campaign ads, soliciting volunteers and going forward with plans to hold a rally and open house in DeKalb County on Saturday.
Cain supporters think he can recover from accusations of sexual harassment from several women and a Dunwoody woman's claim this week to have carried on a 13-year extramarital affair with him.
Cain has denied all the accusations, and that's enough for supporters like state Sen. Josh McKoon, one of Cain's top champions in the General Assembly.
"I've known him for a long time, and as far as I'm concerned he's a man of integrity. And if that's what he says to me and to the American people, I believe him," said McKoon, R-Columbus, noting that he and Cain have communicated this week. "I certainly hope he will continue on."
McKoon will stand by Cain's side at the grand opening of his new campaign office Saturday in northeast Atlanta.
Cain's campaign shows few signs that an end is near. His team on Thursday emailed supporters in search of volunteers able to travel to early-voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina to work for the campaign. Cain's team also released a new ad ready to hit the airwaves in Iowa. And on Facebook, supporters have recently created an "I Stand with Gloria Cain" page that has nearly 400 members.
Thursday at the soon-to-be-opened campaign office along I-85 at 3700 DeKalb Technology Parkway, a handful of campaign aides were busy getting the place ready as a window washer cleaned the outside glass.
If Cain is to continue on, he will have to find a way to restart the fundraising engine that had been humming as he surged to the top of the polls in October. Cain told Fox News on Wednesday that the claim of a longtime affair by Ginger White has slowed the flow of money to the campaign.
Many Cain supporters don't think White is credible.
Joan Virag, a retired biochemical researcher from McDonough, said she doesn’t believe White’s accusation and thinks it is part of a plot to derail Cain’s campaign. Virag, who has donated about $250 to Cain’s campaign, said she would vote for him if he stays in the race.
“I think there are enough people who want to bring him down,” she said in speculating about what could be behind White’s accusation. “I don’t know if at this point he can win. It depends on how people look at him. I have no problems with voting for him still.”
The opinion that might matter most is Gloria Cain's. She has shied way from the public eye during the campaign, giving a single Fox News interview where she defended her husband of 43 years after the sexual harassment allegations were made public.
If the Cain family decides to continue the race, then Cain supporters are confident he still has a shot.
“From everything I have seen, [fundraising] is starting to pick up again,” Dave McCleary, co-state director of Cain’s Georgia campaign, said Thursday. “Obviously, people had a wait-and-see attitude for a day or two, but we are seeing activity pick up.
“And, as a matter of fact, somebody dropped off a check by our Georgia campaign office today with an encouraging note saying ‘Please stay in.’ "
Dave McCleary(cq), co-state director of Cain’s Georgia campaign, said he was on a conference call with Cain Tuesday, when the candidate indicated he was staying in the race. McCleary added that he heard from Cain’s chief of staff this week that Cain plans to attend the grand opening of his state campaign headquarters on DeKalb Technology Parkway Saturday.
“I just talked to the campaign office five minutes ago and they are full steam ahead,” McCleary said. “He is definitely going to be here.”
Meanwhile, McCleary said, the Cain campaign is continuing to collect contributions and attract volunteers.
“From everything I have seen it is starting to pick up again,” McCleary said about the campaign receiving donations. “Obviously, people had a wait-and-see attitude for a day or two, but we are seeing activity pick up.
“And, as a matter of fact, somebody dropped off a check by our Georgia campaign office today with an encouraging note saying ‘Please stay in.’ McCleary declined to identify that person without his or her permission.
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