Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain seems to have weathered a trio of annonymous sexual harassment accusations, but on Monday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, senior political analyst Brit Hume said the new allegation coming from Sharon Bialek “changes things” and makes Cain’s political survival “almost impossible.”
“I didn’t think he could survive the other allegations,” Hume said. “Although I have misgivings about how they came about and the whole case, I think now it’s almost impossible. He told everyone there was nothing else could happen — it had to be made up. Here is a person with specifics. In order to deal with it, he has to rebut specifics in some way and pretty soon you got him alone with a woman and having dinner and the whole thing. I just think it’s going to leave Republican voters when they finally get down to voting wondering whether this is someone they can afford to put up against Barack Obama.”
Hume pointed to the flaws in the previous claims first published by Politico a week ago. But Bialek, he said, is a game changer.
“Finally today, though, an actual person came forward to claim that Herman Cain groped her in a car on a Washington street 14 years ago,” Hume said. “Cain promptly denied it, but this accusation changes things. Never mind at her side was lawyer Gloria Allred, long time liberal activists. Allred clients in recent years by the way include two porn stars accusing famous men of sexual behavior. Never mind that this woman, who filed no complaint at the time, is apparently planning no legal action now. Cain now faces accusation with someone with a name and face and detailed story. It may not be fair and it may not be true, but it takes the case to new territory.” (RELATED: From nipple rings to Borat’s etiquette coach: Gloria Allred’s greatest hits)
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Accusations, Hume pointed out, work differently in the world of politics than in a courtroom.
“In a court of law, accusers must prove their case beyond reasonable doubt to win a criminal conviction,” Hume said. “All a defense lawyer needs to do is sow such doubt and the client will be acquitted. But case of Herman Cain illustrates perfectly [that] in politics the situation is upside-down. All an accuser needs to do is sow reasonable doubt about candidate in mind of voters — no proof is needed.”