Politics: Deny, Deny, (Admit), Deny

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
Politics Deny, Deny, (Admit), Deny How Herman Cain tried to keep sexual harassment allegations from exploding into scandal. By David Weigel Posted Monday, Oct 31, 2011, at 11:26 PM ET The scrum of reporters shivering outside the American Enterprise Institute scrutinized every passing SUV, peering at tinted windows for the shape of Herman Cain. He has a week of Washington commitments ahead of him, but he'll spend Monday avoiding questions about the sexual harassment claims settled back when he ran the National Restaurant Association. Right at 9 a.m., when Cain was supposed to take a chair at AEI and discuss—ha, ha—his tax plans, a black SUV zoomed into the garage next to the think tank. Reporters chased it down, winter boots clanking, pursued by a security guard who had been watching their stakeout. Cain exited the SUV, wearing a black trench coat and black fedora that would have given him a mien of guilt if they weren't what he always wore in the cold. "Do you have anything to say—" "About the allegations in Politico—" "Good morning!" said Cain. He was whisked up to AEI's conference room, where moderator Kevin Hassett warned the crowd that "questions have to be about the topic at hand." Going into this, there were worries and tremors about whether Cain would even show up. What was the upside? The story broke at 8 p.m. Sunday. By 10 p.m., his spokesman J.D. Gordon had given Geraldo Rivera an exclusive interview in which he repeated talking points about the liberal media so robotically that he managed to convince the sympathetic host—"[Cain] may deserve much better than this ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Herman Cain's Other Scandal: His Campaign Chief Won't Talk About It If the United States Had To Wage a New War Tomorrow, Could We Afford It? Can You Ever Hire an "Escort" To Do "Escorting," or Are They All Prostitutes?	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036