This story is about the press conference in Phoenix given by republican primary candidate Herman Cain in response to an accusation of sexual harassment. This particular accuser/victim is a woman named Sharon Bialek who used to work for Cain at the National Restaurant Association. There have been at least three other women who have made the same accusations against Mr. Cain, but they chose to remain anonymous. Ms. Bialek is the first accuser to accuse Cain in public. In this story Cain states that he believes sexual harassment to be a serious
matter and that it doesn’t only happen to women. Ms. Bialek gave a very graphic description of what she alleges Mr. Cain perpetrated on her. Mr. Cain said that all of the sexual harassment accusations now surfacing are together a manufactured controversy manufactured by what he referred to as the “Democratic Machine.” Mr. Cain went as far as saying he predicts more women will be coming forward with similar accusations that will also be manufactured by the “machine.” We are also told that Mr. Cain has begun to “undercut” the credibility of Ms. Bialek. Cain said yes when he was asked by a reporter if he would be willing to take a “lie detector test” to prove he isn’t guilty of the allegations, but also said he would only take the test if there was a good reason to do so. It seems that up to this point Mr. Cain is applying the bolstering and denial strategies of apologia. He is strongly denying he has ever acted inappropriately with any of the women, accusing the women of acting on behalf of his political opponents and attacking the credibility of his accusers.
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I continue to go back and forth with this story, a part of me feels for these women who seem to be sincerely pained by Cain’s actions. However, on the other hand I would hate to think that their is some foul play going on the ruin Cain’s image. We all know that there were alot of comments about President Obama being a black man and actually making it into the office. So now with the possibility of having another black President there might be some people trying to harm the possibility of making that happen again. As for the victim here, I do feel that she is sincere, however the others that have come out may be doing it for a chance at celebrity.
When I consider this story along with the past couple weeks articles concerning this issue with Herman Cain and the allegations that have been brought up about him I feel that the timing of the reports is something to be considered. By timing I mean that why these allegations are being brought to fruition during the candidates campaign and not in the past, highlighting the possibility that these allegations may have been under investigation for some time, but only heavily reported due to his rise in popularity and relevance. Also, I am a large proponent that someone is innocent until proven guilty, and the fact that these allegations and reports seem to focus more on the idea that he is guilty before any court rulings.
Well, it is quite strange four women to accuse a man into something like this but in politics there will be no wonder if someone has paid them to do so. What is your opinion?