Cain Tells Aides He Is Reassessing His Campaign

Embattled presidential candidate Herman Cain told aides today that he’s reassessing his campaign a day after scandals surrounding him widened.

Cain has denied the allegations as well as several other accusations that have dogged his candidacy over the past month. Throughout it all, Cain has repeatedly vowed to stay in the race. Even so, he told senior staff in a mid-morning conference call lasting roughly 10 minutes that all public events will go forward this week but he will review the campaign’s strategy over the next several days.

One participant on the call, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the conversation, said that as part of that assessment, Cain’s campaign is examining the impact of the newest allegations. This person described the tone as positive but also said there was some uncertainty coming from Cain.

“He said obviously it’s taken an emotional toll on his family, but he’s moving ahead with the campaign,” Steve Grubbs, Cain’s Iowa campaign chairman and another person on the call, told the Associated Press. “He said that they will be reassessing the campaign,” including how to move forward given that the allegations have damaged his fundraising.

Publicly, Cain sought to project an aura of campaign business as usual even as his team worked behind the scenes to assess the fallout. It came just five weeks before the Iowa caucuses that kick off the state-by-state voting process for the GOP nomination. Cain was set to deliver, as planned, a foreign policy speech at Hillsdale College in Michigan later today.

“Yes,” said J.D. Gordon, Cain’s spokesman, when asked early today whether Cain is definitely staying in the race.

After the conference call, Cain attorney Linn Wood told AP: “Any report that Mr. Cain has decided to withdraw his candidacy is inaccurate.”

“I think they are assessing the situation, just as I would expect the campaign to do or any prudent business person to do,” said Wood. He added that he would hate to see what he described as false accusations drive Cain out of the race for the presidency.

{Detroit Free Press/Matzav.com Newscenter}