Raising Cain

So what did the German woman say to Herman Cain, when he tried to grope her? "Nein, Nein, Nein."

Well, you know your candidate is cooked when after floundering around you have to bring the wife to testify on your behalf. Herman Cain is caught in a brouhaha about sexual harassment claims by two women when he ran the Restaurant Association in the 1990s. The story has been brewing for ten days and the sign of how bad the Cain camapign is lies in their failure to figure out how to respond, leaving their man hanging out there.

The real interesting element of this story is that Michael Steele told Morning Joe that the rumor had been leaked to Politico by a GOP rival of Cain's. The Politico editor who appeared on today's Diane Riehm show would not confirm or deny this. So who would be the culprit? Willard or Newt, both of whom have connections to Politico.

Michael Gerson took the opportunity in the Washington Post to argue the conservative's case for Willard Mitt Romney. I still don't get it other than Romney is lying low while his rivals self-destruct.

Rick Perry was all over the Sunday talk shows and was headlined in other shows where his incoherent speech in New Hampshire brought comments and criticism. To those who believe he was drunk, the likelihodd is that he's on pain-killers for his back operation.

Jon Huntsman has found a new career in making political ads. He took his "well-lubricated weather vane" ramark about Romney and turned it into an ad ,featuring the weathervane, and Romney changing every position he has ever had about anything. It is an effective ad.

ThinkProgress nailed Romney and his son Tagg and his campaign fund-raiser as being partners on a $8 billion ponzi scheme that collapsed. The Romneys claim no legal responsibility. This is just the type of thing Romney has always been involved with. The problem is that people don't understand financial scandals.

The real scandal here is that Willard thinks he is a Palin by naming his son something like Tagg.

Newt and his lovely bride Callista would like you to know he's making a comeback. Newt is banking on Cain, Perry and others fading or burning out and he will rise like the phoenix to represent Ronald Reagan against Romney. It's just that the dollar numbers don't work out and even a win in Iowa isn't worth spit.

What's amazing about the whole Cain flap is that it really,truly is meaningless. The real story for Cain is that a wealthy person gave him $40,000 to start his campaign and it wasn't registered and happens to be a felony under election law. That still is meaningless. Cain could have any policy position--crazy,insane or great. But it would not matter. He has no ground game in the early primaries--which start tomorrow, alm ost literally. While his campaign is now rivalling Ron Paul's in fund-raising on the net, it still is not competitive with Romney or Perry. There was little chance when he began and there is no chance now that Cain would be a real contender.

And now he's taking a one-way ticket to Palookaville.