UPDATE: Herman Cain has suspended his presidential campaign.
Embattled pizza magnate Herman Cain told supporters in South Carolina Friday that he would make an announcement in Atlanta the next day addressing the future of his presidential bid.
Ever since Georgia businesswoman Ginger White went public with her claim that she and Cain were involved in a 13 year affair, Cain’s poll numbers have plummeted and he has acknowledged that he is having trouble raising money. Nobody knows exactly what Cain plans to do, however.
“Nobody’s going to make me make that [decision] prematurely,” Cain told the South Carolina crowd. “That’s all there is to it.”
Cain also said that he would keep his family in mind as he made his decision.
“My wife and family comes first. I’ve got to take that into consideration,” he said. This stance runs counter to a report by Newsweek’s Allison Samuels, which uncovered evidence that Cain has often acted like a man who is estranged from what his wife and family think.
Several of the people interviewed for this story said they believe Cain will do what’s best for him and not his family in deciding whether he’ll leave the race.
“What he says about concern for his wife and family sounds good,” said one family friend, “but if he meant it, he wouldn’t have gotten in the race in the first place.”
The Samuels article also gives the strong impression that Cain’s family sees him in the same way that the American public has seen him throughout the campaign: as an arrogant self-aggrandizer.
Another family friend says Gloria Cain was never a fan of her husband’s “look at me’’ tendencies or his run for office, even though Cain assured her it wouldn’t require much of her physically or emotionally. He was wrong.
“This is a very arrogant man,’’ says the friend. “It probably never occurred to him that all these women would eventually come out. It’s funny to see him talk about the toll on his wife. He never thought of that before.’’
Cain’s campaign has tried to counteract these criticisms by launching a new “Women for Cain” website showcasing his female support. The site is full of uncomfortably enthusiastic testimonials such as that of Robin Haraway, who writes “Sir, I firmly believe that you were sent to our nation through Divine Providence and I believe that you are the man to preserve our Republic for our children.”
The banner image seen above features four smiling women who CBS News reports are not actually Cain supporters. The graphic is a stock photo.
Coincidentally, Gloria Cain — who is listed as the “National Chairperson” of Women for Cain — is not pictured on the site, nor does she have any personal message among the glowing testimonials.
One woman who is unlikely to join women for Cain is his alleged former lover, Ginger White, who appeared on “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” last night, and clarified that “It wasn’t a love affair” between her and Cain. “It was a sexual affair.”
Video of White’s interview is below, courtesy of MSNBC:
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BONUS VIDEO: On “America Live” this afternoon, Fox News must have figured that the best way to understand a sex scandal is to ask someone who’s been there before. That’s why they asked former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford — who was disgraced when his love affair with Maria Belén Chapur became public — whether or not Cain could survive the scandal.
Video of Sanford’s interview follows, courtesy of The Hill:
