Raising Cain

Politico and Real Clear Politics are in full bloom with multiple scandal stories about Herman Cain.  It seems obvious that the scandal was engineered by a poliical rival or rivals in co-ordination with the left wing media. 

    Ambiguous accusations, hurled without evidence of wrong doing constitute a sly, slickly contrived fishing expedition.  The purveyors of scandal throw out the amorphous charges in hopes that the accused will expose some previously unknown vulnerability in a mad scramble to defend his reputation. 

    I have no clue whether the Perry campaign was behind the scandal stories or not. I would be more inclined to suspect Obama & Romney but the recent hiring of a past Cain consultant by the Perry campaign seems to light the path in that direction. 

    My unfounded opinion is that Pawlenti & Perry are stalking horses for Romney, their mission being to suppress less popular rivals, suck away their media 'oxygen' and discourage other wall flowers from sprinting into the race.

    Playing the scandal card carries some risks.  If the player is identified, he will be tainted with a reputation for mud slinging, losing considerable moral authority in the process.  If the victim is able to deflect the charges, the increased media attention may prove beneficial rather than detrimantal to his campaign.  If nothing else, it will lead to increased name recognition.

    For the true believers who share the candidate's ideology, scandal mongering can serve to cement their attachment to the candidate, so that they will redouble their campaign contributions and efforts.  There may be blowback against the Romney & Perry campaigns even if they were not the source of the scandalous story line.

    Mark Levin had a good rant about the scandal Tuesday, from a lawyer's view point.  Tonight he opened the show with another excellent rant about the scandal.