Washington (CNN) - An independent group dedicated to helping Herman Cain win the GOP presidential nomination is up with a web video that defends the Republican presidential candidate against allegations of sexual harassment.
The web video, by a super political action committee called the "9-9-9 Fund," includes clips of conservative hosts, including Rush Limbaugh, blaming the mainstream media for attacking a black conservative like Cain. The video uses television clips of liberal pundits attacking Cain as well as the famous clip of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas calling his grilling during his confirmation hearings two decades ago "a high-tech lynching, and ends with the on-screen message, "Don't let the left do it again."
A spokesman for the superPAC tells CNN that a shorter version of the video will run as a paid commercial on Iowa TV starting next week and that his group will also blast out automated calls in Iowa and Nevada with the same message.
Iowa's January 3 caucuses kick off the primary and caucus calendar. Nevada is now scheduled to be the fifth state to weigh in on the battle for the nomination, holding its caucus on February 4.
The 9-9-9 Fund was launched last month to aid Cain's candidacy in the early voting states. The superPAC is run by Republican campaign veteran Jordan Gehrke.
Under Federal Election Commission rules, a "superPAC" can accept unlimited donations but must report its contributors and cannot coordinate with a candidate's campaign. Other GOP presidential candidates, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, as well as President Barack Obama, have superPACs established by former aides to help in their fundraising efforts.
Cain's sexual harassment controversy was ignited Sunday by a report on the political website Politico which alleged that two female employees at the National Restaurant Association accused Cain of inappropriate behavior during his tenure as head of the organization in the late 1990s. Cain calls the allegations fabricated and baseless.
- CNN Senior Political Producer Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.
– Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @PSteinhauserCNN
Also see:
Has Cain controversy hurt him in the polls?
From CNN Politics
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Sniffit: "The settlement agreement is dated 9-99."
OK, I love Sniffit, and thought this was another of his witty posts. But then I googled it and wow, it's true!
"Joel Bennett, the attorney for one of the women who complained about Herman Cain at the National Restaurant Association said Friday that his client's settlement was dated in September of 1999 ..."
The deeper question is; this man is unaware that China has nuclear weapons...........what else he doesn't know. Well, besides the pizza CEO thing, he knows the lyrics of many hymns.
Don't think this will slow down Cain. He is not qualified to be President, he knows it and when primaries start he will not do well at all.
"If you're harassed at work, blame it on yourself!" – Herman Cain (not really, but I couldn't help myself)
This PAC is wasting money worse than the US government ever could. Bogus commercial for a bogus candidate.
The fact that republicans still see Cain as a viable candidate says that in general, they are just a bunch of hyporcites.
Face it Cain! Your past has come back to haunt you! Time to step out of the campaign and cry 'Uncle'!!!
Lets just pretend for a moment that it is untrue. By paying that woman hush money you have shown that you buckle in a crisis!! Definitely not Presidential material! Bye Bye Herbie!!!
Republicans are back in conspiracy mode. Despite the fact that Democrats have nothing to gain and everything to lose by ending the joke candidacy of Herman Cain, it must be their fault because they're the 'evil liberal media conspiracy'. Cain himself doesn't seem to believe this, since it's far more likely to have been his backstabbing 'colleagues' in his own party. The media certainly blows things out of proportion, but Republicans count on that to carry out their dirty tricks.
Cain didn't accuse liberals of doing this – he accused a fellow GOP. We'll see.
Referring to Clarence Thomas and using Rush Limbaugh as a source won't help Cain any with independents, if that's what this clip is supposed to do. If it is to help bolster Cain's status with conservatives, he's in more trouble than I thought. If Cain can't beat out people like Romney and Perry with conservatives, he can't beat anybody!
Cain is such a tool. What circus came to town and left bachmann, cain, perry, gingrich et al standing in our midst? Being craven and blustery is no basis and/or qualification for president. Out already with these tired old weak-kneed teabaggers and the koch bros that finance them. cowards and nincompoops (other than huntsman) the lot of them.
This race stuff is just crap. He is being held to the same standards as most white politicians: If you run for President, everything in your life is going to be put under a microscope. If you lie about it, the questions are just going to get more and more intense.
Herman, we are not complete fools.
I noticed they failed to put FoxNews on there as one of the media. Didn't Fox and the far right pundits fan the flames of this being a liberal attack when it turned out NOT to be?? Well I guess Ann was wrong when she said "our Blacks are BETTER than their Blacks" I also wonder if Rush thinks this support for Cain is also due to "white guilt" like it was claimed to be for Obama in 2008?
Herman Cain is blaming the Perry camp, the Perry camp is blaming the Romney camp, conservatives blames liberals, whites blame blacks, blacks conservatives blame black liberals, did anybody ever consider the feeling of the victims, NO! Herman Cain is gaining in the polls and receiving more attention and money by the day, here's a thought maybe it was Herman Cain who leaked the story! Think!!!!!!
When Thomas was before the group for conformation there were a group of women who worked with him and Hill. They all said he was not guilty of charges. The news media bever mentioned their testimony. With it they couldn't trash Thomas.
He's not so much like Clarence Thomas, as he is like Bill Clinton. Well, not really, Clinton paid out almost 800K to Paula Jones, perjured himself and banged a number of different women.
No. He's not as dangerous as Thomas or as corrupt.
Gloria Cain is a democrat I wonder if she will vote for Obama 2012
All the time I hear that Romney is the only candidate to beat Obama. To me, this does not make any logic at all. In order Romney to beat Obama he needs the combination of the entire GOP base plus independents. But he does not get the full support of GOP. This notion does not come even half way of my mind.
"OK, I love Sniffit, and thought this was another of his witty posts. But then I googled it and wow, it's true!"
hehe...I try to make sure claims of fact like that are actually true...I'm not just fabricating the numbers when I post them
The "high tech lynching" that occured at the Thomas hearing was that of Anita Bryant. She was attacked by the right wing machine without mercy and destroyed in order to protect their nominee. The same is starting to happen to the women that were victimized by Cain.......they will be attacked without mercy to protect their candidate. Where is the honor in the GOP?
Yes, Caine is like Clarence Thomas – both are wholly unqualified for their positions and super-right wing extremists bought and paid for by corporations.
And none too smart, either.
"Liberal Media", that cracks me up everytime!
Is this really all America has to offer–pathetic politics. It's getting to point where these are the only type of things that can't be labeled "Made in China".
Ummmm... Did he do it or not?