There are plenty of burning questions for Herman Cain right now over a report that he dealt with two sexual harassment complaints at the National Restaurant Association, but he stuck entirely to tax policy in his first event since the scandal.
“I will take all of the arrows later,” he said at a roundtable discussion at the American Enterprise Institute before soliciting questions from the audience. He added later, after being asked about the harassment accusations: “I am going by the ground rules that my host has set.”
Cain dodged about a dozen reporters on the way into the event, giving only a quick “Good morning.”
Instead, Cain spent his time on his favorite topic: his 999 plan, which he discussed almost continuously for two hours straight. Asked about his Republican opponents’ attacks on the plan’s consumption tax, Cain said that “it just indicated they were scrambling to come up with something better than 999 — and so far they haven’t.”
Asked whether he might be due for a campaign implosion given that GOP voters have been fickle in opinion polls in recent months, Cain said his campaign would overcome his toughest critics within the Republican Party.
“The people have propelled my candidacy,” he said. “The party may resist — and I’m not saying that they are, I’m not the party favorite by some members of the party, I understand that — but the momentum is coming from the grassroots and the people. That’s why this flavor of the week is now the flavor of the month and it still tastes good.”
While he didn’t address the allegations against him, he ended the event with a defiant nod to his unusual campaign.
“Yes, I am an unconventional candidate and yes, I do have a sense of humor and some people have a problem with that,” he said. “But to quote my chief of staff and all of the people I’ve talked to around this country, ‘Herman, be Herman.’ And Herman is going to stay Herman.”
Cain will appear on FOX News at 11:15 AM on Monday and speak at the National Press Club at 1 PM.
