In an article by the Associated Press, "Racial politics return with Cain allegations", Republican politician Herman Cain states that the recent uncovering of sexual harassment case that occurred 10 years ago is solely because he is black. Many people interviewed in the article felt that it was unfair that Cain played the "race card". Armstrong Williams, for example, said, "Why is the first response from some conservatives that this must have to do with Cain's race? That makes them guilty of the same race-baiting we accuse Democrats of". Since Cain was a front runner for the Republican party for 2012 election, I believe the sexual harassment case was brought up because people were trying to knock him down a few pegs, not criticizing his race. Cain even states in the article that he believes it is due to race, but there is no evidence to support the claim. When people are in the number one spot, opponents feel the need to find all the dirt they can in order to eliminate them from the race. Interestingly enough, Herman Cain is still in winning in the election poles.
1. What are your views on how Cain handled the accusations?
2. Do you feel that it was because of him being the front runner or because of his race?
You do not need to base your answers off these questions. If you guys have any examples that can relate to this topic, please write them down!
I believe that the accusation against Herman Cain was due to the both the fact that he is winning the polls, and that he is Conservative. Society today is leaning toward the Liberal, Democrats, making it harder for Cain to receive popularity. The people who brought up the accusation against Cain are afraid of a strong conservative winning the polls, and then the presidency in 2012. In the 2008 election, accusations were made against Sarah Palin, as she was a conservative woman. I believe that no matter who you are, if you are going to have beliefs that differ from others, then accusations will be made, in attempt to knock you out of first. All in all, I believe that the reasons this accusation was brought up against Herman Cain are because he is currently in first place and he is a conservative.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Cain could have handled this situation more appropriately. Instead of saying these accusations occurred just based on his race he showed have basically said that the accusations we're not true and that everyone has their own opinion on this accusation so be it. I feel that Cain is playing the race card in some way by having people vote for him because of his race. I also do believe that these accusations occurred because that Cain is a front runner for the presidental election. It's pretty upsetting that our society is so corrupt in politics that they need to put the front runner down in some way. Doesn't it seem strange that these harassment stories came happened over 10 years ago and are just being reveled now? I think these accusations are not true one bit but just a way to keep people's interest in this presidental race.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree that these accusations against Herman Cain was due to his ethnicity. A similar situation would be Bill Clinton, specifically in the fall out of the Monica Lewinsky affair. I also don't agree that there is a bias against conservatives that is fueling these accusations. Whenever someone is running for a position of power or is in a position of power a number of enemies will inevitably be made. These political enemies are looking to throw dirt, in anyway possible. The timing of this is actually very significant, and it does point to the fact that Cain's political enemies are looking to bring him down in the poles. Having said that, this is just part of politics. For instance when Obama was running for president, views by his radical pastor suddenly became in public view. I do not believe that Cain handled the situation appropriately. I have listened to a few of his interviews and he keeps changing his story on exactly what happened. The part about how his race influenced this story to come out was also a poor mistake. Automatically most people will think he is playing the race card. There is usually not smoke without fire, so I think the best thing Cain can do is do openly and honestly explain the circumstances, and let the American people make a judgement.
ReplyDeleteI don't like when political figures play the race card because there is such a fear in our country now being considered a racist that no one would want to go against that. I remember during the 2008 presidential election that when some people would ask "who are you voting for?" and the answer wasn't Barack Obama, then people would ask "are you a racist?" Most of the times this question was asked in a joking manner but that didn't take away from the subconscious thinking of "am I a racist?" The race card seems to be just a defense mechanism nowadays in politics, as a last resort to make others back off. The thing is though, it works. As soon as someone says it was race related, the question turns from what did the candidate do wrong to was this really racially influenced. In Herman Cain's situation I do not think his ethnicity had to do with it like Josh, Lauren, and Valerie also stated above. I agree with them that he should have and could have handled the situation much better. I think these allegations came out because he was ahead in the race for the conservative presidential nomination and it was a political move because he would have been a good opponent to Obama. Herman Cain running for President against Obama would be the first time that two african americans were running for President besides that though the racial card would be eliminated entirely making it a presidential race based solely on the candidates and not their skin colors.
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