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(Jonathan Ernst, Larry Downing, Downing, Jason Reed, Reed / Reuters)
2:20 PM PT: Cain repeats his blanket denials, and opens the floor to questions, through his "Vice President of Communications."
2:21 PM PT: Asked by CBS, Cain says he'd take a lie detector. "But I'm not going to do that," he says, "unless I have a good reason." Apparently he doesn't think he's got a good reason.
2:22 PM PT: Cain says the good news for him is that "Most of my supporters have not reacted to this in terms of belief." Apparently, they have faith that "these incidents simply did not happen."
2:24 PM PT: Cain says he's seen instances "where it could be interpreted as sexual harassment" but that he always dealt with it before the victim even "perceived it." Cain says it's just as likely that women could harass men as men could harass women, and that he's seen both. (Maybe Disclosure is his favorite movie.)
2:25 PM PT: Okay, I am still stunned that he just said female harassment of men is just as big a problem in the workplace as the reverse. Amazing, this world that he sees.
2:28 PM PT: Here's a question I wish a reporter would ask of Cain: why did his lawyer challenge the memory of Sharon Bialek? Is he suggesting that she got Cain confused with someone else? If it's a question of memory, isn't that a tacit concession that SOMETHING happened? The question is WHAT happened. And why would her memory be an issue?
2:30 PM PT: To clarify—why would her memory be an issue if there was nothing at all to remember? If Cain is saying she is inventing this story, her memory isn't the issue. But if her memory is an issue, it inherently means that there's something to remember.
2:30 PM PT: Cain is unable to offer any evidence whatsoever for his claim that Democrats are behind the claims. He can only "infer" that's the case, he admits.
2:32 PM PT: Jesus these questions suck. A reporter just asked whether Sharon Bialek's financial status might have had a role in her allegation. Why ask this of Cain? CNN asked a decent question, asking him who had cleared him. Cain answers that he had only been "cleared" (his words) in one instance (not the three others). He hasn't explained the substance of the accusations.
2:33 PM PT: Cain says it's possible he could remember knowing Sharon Bialek later.
2:34 PM PT: But he adds "I seriously doubt if I'm going to have an aha moment later and say oh yeah I remember that."