Rove to Cain: You Knew for 10 Days This Was Coming

The economy, simplicity, limits of outsiders, say pundits

(NEWSER) - So, after a fleeting moment at the top of the polls , Herman Cain's run for the Oval Office is over. Now comes the political dissection, as analysts ask what his unconventional campaign meant:

• The root of Cain's popularity was his campaign's "simplicity and unconventionality," says Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post . His tax plan was easy and "seemed to make sense," and reinforced his unique, off-beat approach. "The Republican base, sick of politics-as-usual as practiced by both parties in Washington, loved Cain’s I-am-not-a-politician riff," said Cillizza.

Behind a damaged Herman Cain, according to new poll

(NEWSER) - Don’t look now, but Newt Gingrich appears to have crawled his way into the top tier of the GOP presidential field. A new CBS News poll has Gingrich tied with Mitt Romney for second place, at 15% each. Ahead of both is Herman Cain with 18%, but the poll shows he has been damaged somewhat by his sexual harassment scandal. (Also in the poll's top five positions: 17% for "don't know" and 14% for "someone else.") More»

Not that it'll hurt his fundraising ability...

(NEWSER) - Herman, Herman, Herman... Just one day after Herman Cain apologized for referring to Nancy Pelosi as “Princess Nancy,” he stepped in it again with a joke about Anita Hill. That’s right: Cain, facing allegations of sexual harassment, made a joke about the woman who accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. The presidential contender was at a campaign stop in Michigan yesterday when someone mentioned Hill. A Fox News camera caught Cain responding, “Is she going to endorse me?” to laughter. More»

Allegations haven't slowed donations, campaign says

(NEWSER) - The morass of sexual harassment allegations hasn't slowed Herman Cain's fundraising. The candidate has raised $9 million over the last six weeks, according to his campaign, with $2.25 million of that donated since the sexual harassment story first broke. If money keeps flowing to the Cain campaign at the same rate, he will raise $20 million for the quarter, well ahead of Mitt Romney and Rick Perry's best totals, the Washington Post notes. More»

Claimed unfair treatment 3 years later at INS job

(NEWSER) - The Herman Cain accuser who walked off with $45,000 over what he dismisses as an innocent comment about her height filed a complaint three years later at another federal job. In an effort to gain insight into how Karen Kraushaar responded to workplace conflict, the AP takes a look into the past of the 55-year-old Kraushaar, who has now stepped into the spotlight by publicly calling for all Cain's accusers to step forward . Kraushaar's 2002 claim alleged unfair treatment after her supervisors at the Immigration and Naturalization Service refused to let her work from home after a car accident; it also cited a sexist email forward that a supervisor circulated at work that listed reasons men and women were like computers (in the case of men, "you have to turn them on" to get their attention). More»