Herman Cain: The Past Is Present

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeRepublican presidential candidate Herman Cain, who doesn't have much of a campaign organization (except for Smoking Man Mark Block) and no visible means of support (unless you count the Koch brothers), is nonetheless in a dead heat with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, depending on which voter preference poll you believe.

But now Cain's campaign is threatened by allegations of sexual misconduct.  Four women have accused Cain of inappropriate remarks and actions during his tenure as president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s.  Two of those women were allegedly paid off by the organization in exchange for their silence.  The other two, Sharon Bialek and Karen Kraushaar, were willing to go public with graphic descriptions of what they remember.

Cain has denied all the charges, but this scandal has sucked the air out of his campaign along with the rest of the GOP field.  Who wants to hear about his 9-0-9 tax plan (formerly known as 9-9-9), when one of his alleged victims is on TV describing how he had touched her in a place he shouldn't have?

What's disturbing about all this is the racial overtones.  There's a feeling among some that African-Americans like Cain shouldn't be in positions of power.  Clarence Thomas was on his way to becoming Supreme Court justice until Anita Hill went before a Senate committee to say she was sexually harassed by him.  And remember when conservatives demanded proof that President Barack Obama was actually born in this country?

What's also disturbing is that, in spite of all the laws that have been passed to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, the incidents keep happening.  Is it too much to ask for people to act in a professional manner on the job while keeping their hands to themselves?

Having said that, how can we believe someone who accuses a public figure of sexual misconduct in any form while hiding in the shadows?  Just going through it must be painful enough.

Herman Cain continued to deny the accusations against him at a news conference in Arizona Tuesday, and said he is not dropping out of the GOP race.  Cain even said he doesn't know Bialik, and went so far as to say she was lying.  His poll numbers have not been affected by the scandal so far, and he seems content to let the voters decide his fate in the upcoming primaries.  But how long will it be before his past finally catches up?