Herman Cain suspends campaign for Republican presidential nomination

 

Herman Cain has announced the suspension of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Beleaguered Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, whose effort to win the White House was rocked by claims of infidelity and sexual harrassment, suspended his campaign on Saturday.

 

Cain, a black former pizza magnate turned hero of the Tea Party right, told a crowd of supporters in his home base of Atlanta, Georgia, that he had made the decision because of the hurt caused to his family and message by allegations he insisted were false.

 

"As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching I am suspending my presidential campaign," Cain told the crowd, who had spent several hours gathered outside a building that was to have opened Saturday as Cain's national campaign headquarters.

 

Though Cain's popularity was already collapsing, the end of this campaign will likely be a blow to Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, as Cain's remaining supporters are likely to go to another conservative candidate, such as former congressman Newt Gingrich, and not Romney who has a history of taking more liberal positions he has since disavowed.

 

Cain strenuously denied allegations of sexual misbehaviour that have been made against him and feverishly reported in the press but said they had deeply hurt his family. "It hurts my wife, it hurts my family, it hurts me and it hurts the American people because you have been denied solutions to our problems," he said.

 

Cain made the decision after a meeting last night with his wife Gloria; the first time the candidate had met his spouse of 43 years in person since the infidelity allegations had emerged. Gloria Cain joined her husband on the stage as Cain made his announcement, smiling and waving at supporters who chanted her name. Cain repeatedly denied that there was any truth to repeated claims of sexual harassment when he was head of the National Restaurant Association and that he had also conducted a 13-year affair with an Atlanta woman. "I am at peace with my God. I am at peace with my wife and she is at peace with me," he said.

 

The astonishing scene – not least because Cain effectively ended his presidential bid at a ceremony intended to open a huge new headquarters for it – likely puts a permanent full stop to one of the most unusual campaigns of recent years in America politics. His critics have slammed his bid as little more than a book tour masquerading as a run for the presidency. Cain has certainly spent less time developing the "ground operation" in key early states than some other candidates. But what was not in doubt was the excitement that Cain brought to conservative elements of the Republican base desperate to avoid the nomination of frontrunner Mitt Romney. Cain's radical 9-9-9 tax plan became a national talking point and forced some other candidates to consider flat tax schemes themselves. He also wooed audiences with engaging debate performances, his natural charisma and a gift for comic timing. Cain paid an emotional tribute to his supporters in his Atlanta speech. "Cain supporters are not warm weather supporters and I can't thank all of you enough for what you've done," he said. He also gave a typically barnstorming slam of Washington's political culture, which played into his image as a genuine outsider.

 

That sort of speech showed why he was able to tap into a deep well of Republican anger at government and surge unexpectedly in the polls throughout October. The flow of support saw Cain become a frontrunner in several key states and national polls, triggering a wave of scrutiny and intense focus from the media.

 

Cain and his campaign appeared deeply unprepared for their moment in the spotlight. First Cain himself made a series of embarrassing gaffes, including a complete mishandling of a question about Libya in which he appeared to struggle with recognising the North African country. But the most serious problems were accusations that arose from Cain's time as the head of the NRA. Several women came forward in a devastating series of revelations to accuse Cain of acting inappropriately towards them. It culminated last week with the appearance of Ginger White, an Atlanta businesswoman who alleged that she had a long sexual affair with Cain. The candidate denied that, though admitted that he knows White and had helped her financially.

 

Whatever the veracity of the many allegations now flung at Cain, what is certainly true is that they damaged his chances of ever winning the nomination. Cain's plummet from frontrunner to also-ran was as dramatic as his rise. A swath of professional political pundits slammed the amateurishness of his operation and top conservatives abandoned him for other candidates. His support in Iowa collapsed from 23 percent towards the end of October to just eight percent in one recent survey. During his fiery Atlanta speech Cain finished by saying he would still influence politics in the US by endorsing one of his former rivals and also by the creation of a new online organisation, called Cain Solutions, to promote his beliefs. He also admitted that he had made unspecified mistakes in his conduct. "I have made many mistakes in life. Everybody has. I have made mistakes professionally, personally, as a candidate … and I take responsibility for the mistakes that I have made," he said.