The plot thickens. Rod Dreher thinks all the brouhaha will kill Cain's campaign, assuming it hasn't already:
It’s just getting worse for Herman Cain. It’s one thing for anonymous accusers to come after you. But this Bialek woman who just held a presser in New York has a name and a face, and is willing to make her accusation in public. Her lawyer, Gloria Allred (I know, ugh), produced statements by two people who claim Bialek told them at the time what Cain had done to her. Cain can yak all he wants about how he’s not going to talk about this stuff anymore, but that’s all anybody is going to talk about until and unless he firmly and convincingly rebuts this stuff. This drip-drip-drip is going to kill his campaign. I’d say it’s probably dead anyway.The 'name and the face' element is perhaps more important than people realise. Once we can attach a victim to the allegations – a human being, at any rate – then we're far more likely to take those allegations seriously. Well, that's how these events usually play out. Other reactions from Dave Weigel and Dan Amira. Doug Mataconis considers the impact of Bialek's statement:
At some point, I assume she’ll end up on cable being interview by someone and then we’ll see how she comes across. If she’s credible, it’s going to be difficult for Cain to just say “she’s lying” and assume that this story is going to go away. Moreover, if there are any other women out there, the fact that one of them has now come forward may cause others to do the same.
For better or worse, this story isn’t going away. Cain is likely to be benefited somewhat by the fact that the two debates coming up this week are limited to the topics of the economy and foreign policy, at least he won’t have to worry about facing a question from the audience about this issue.