Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is now facing three allegations from different women accusing him of sexual harassment, but his poll numbers have remained largely undamaged so far in light of the scandal, according to The Associated Press.
Some of these claims are over a decade old and are resurfacing now that Cain is on the presidential campaign trail. Many Cain supporters maintain that the allegations are nothing but a smear campaign to bring down Cain’s numbers after his recent surge to the head of the Republican race, but the polls have not shown much difference as of yet.
Since these allegations are so mysterious in nature and early in the stages of media exposure, polling numbers should not be affected because there is no way to tell whether or not any of the claims are legitimate.
Poll numbers, in this race especially, tend to be very volatile, dropping dramatically or surging ahead for otherwise insignificant happenings during a candidate’s campaign. For a while, Texas Gov. Rick Perry remained the frontrunner of the GOP race, but after fellow candidate Michele Bachmann accused him of mishandling the administration of the HPV vaccine in Texas, his numbers plummeted. Due to one small misstep during his career as governor, Perry’s run for president seems finished.
However, allegations of sexual harassment carry a serious weight, and perhaps should not be taken so lightly in the eyes of voters. Accusations of that nature call into question Cain’s morality as a person, a factor that should be closely examined before voters trek to the poll booths.
To a point, a politician’s policies and personal life should remain separate, but a certain amount of crossover is inevitable and even, at times, a welcome method of judging a candidate’s effectiveness as a national leader. The allegations against Cain do not necessarily directly mar his leadership abilities, but they do raise very serious questions about his honesty, a quality that every leader should exemplify in order to maintain credibility with the people.
Cain should be allowed a personal life, but at the same time, he should not expect free reign in his private endeavors without the inevitable repercussion of damage to his public perception.
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