I have been thinking about the recent revelations that Cain sexually harassed two employees while serving as the head of the NRA (No, not that NRA...the other NRA [the National Restaurant Association]).
I've been reading conservative blogs, comments in my local paper (Arizona Daily Star), and other places that require the use of latex gloves before entering...and I have come to the conclusion that these charges will not hurt Cain, but rather catapult him to the next level...at least for the next month or so.
Let's start with the basics of teabaggers.
1. Their mother's milk is the sense of persecution. They really believe they are the persecuted minority--with the persecution mostly by LGBT folks, feminazis, and minorities who have been given "preferential treatment."
2. They firmly believe that they are not racists, sexists, etc., but rather the victims of of those things.
3. It is an unquestioned belief that Clarence Thomas received a "high tech lynching" in the whole Anita Hill accusations.
4. So...they will believe Herman Cain has been railroaded by "Barry Nobama," with the same conviction that they believe Obama was not born in America, that humans are not responsible for climate change and that Darwin is the reason their nephew is gay.
So...all of this leads to one conclusion. Herman Cain is about to get a large surge in the polls. For the first time, the teabaggers will view him as the same persecuted person they all feel they are. Cain just leaped into the Bachman and Palin level of teabag martyr...just at the moment when Bachman and Palin have fallen.
I don't know if this will last more than a month...and perhaps there are other skeletons that will change things yet again.
But, far from hurting him, the recent disclosures about sexual harassment may well catapult Herman Cain into the clear frontrunner position in the republican primaries.