Redstate...
Cain
suspends his Presidential
campaign
By Erick Erickson
December 4, 2011
Herman
Cain has suspended his
Presidential campaign.
By
suspending his campaign instead of
quitting his campaign, Herman can still get federal matching funds in
2012.
But
the campaign is over. Even had it
continued, it was over.
I
had thought and expected that Cain
would continue until Iowa. He had enough money. Dropping out after
losing in
Iowa would have distracted from the present issues.
Dropping
out now will be viewed by a
great many as an admission against interests that Herman Cain did have
a 13
year affair.
But
let’s be real clear here. Herman
Cain did not get wiped out by an affair or allegations of sexual
harassment,
frivolous or otherwise. He got wiped out because those allegations
threw him
off his game and then he kept stumbling through attacks on his 999
plan, his
foreign policy issues, and his campaign staff generally beclowning
themselves
with allegations, retracted allegations, and retracted retractions of
allegations, etc.
A
lot of people will see this as a
sign that amateurs cannot run for office. Perhaps. I actually see it
more as
another failure of the professional political class. I’ll have more
thoughts on
that later.
In
any event, Cain is out. The size of
the debates will suddenly become more manageable. Most of Cain’s
support will
go to Gingrich. Some will go back to Rick Perry. And soon Cain will be
forgotten.
It
is a sad ending for a good man.
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