Is Herman Cain Toast or is Sexual Harassment Just a Joke?

As she does in the report below, MSNBC News host Rachel Maddow calls Herman Cain’s whole run for the Republican presidential nomination a “performance art project.” But apparently Republicans are taking him seriously – with Politico reporting Tuesday morning that:  “With a name, face and salacious details now affixed to allegations of Herman Cain’s sexual misbehavior, Republicans who have otherwise been sympathetic to the former National Restaurant Association CEO are urging him to address the accusations clearly and forthrightly.”

Sharon Bialek’s graphic charges clearly allege that Cain wanted sex in exchange for a job:

“He suddenly reached over and put his hand on my leg under my skirt and reached for my genitals,” said Bialek, a Chicago native who worked for the foundation for roughly six months in 1997, according to the Restaurant Association.“He also grabbed my head and pushed it toward his crotch.”

When she arrived in Washington to meet Cain, Bialek said she found he had upgraded her hotel suite. Cain took her to dinner at an Italian restaurant, then drove over to see the National Restaurant Association headquarters. But Cain stopped the car outside the group’s office and made an advance, she said.

Bialek says she told Cain at the time: “What are you doing, you know I have a boyfriend, this isn’t what I came here for.”

Bialek said Cain said, “You want a job, don’t you?”

Did we mention that Cain and some other Republicans are trying to dismiss this allegation because Bialek – a registered Republican who is not asking for money and doesn’t want to pursue a lawsuit – is represented by media magnet Gloria Allred. Cain is supposed to hold a news conference this afternoon to explain everything. We’ll see. Too bad the other GOP candidates haven’t reacted in some way to these series of sexual harassment allegations, especially since suburban women turn out for the Republican primaries. Progressives, meanwhile, can now add sexual harassment of women to the list of GOP candidates not responding to a gay soldier serving in Iraq being booed at one presidential debate and applause for the idea of letting a Medicare patient without insurance die at another.

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Tagged as: Herman Cain, Rachel Maddow