Herman,I owe you a good bit of my present career in radio. You leaving opened the door for me.I still believe you can win the Republican nomination.I still believe you can beat Barack Obama.I still believe you can be one of the most inspiring Presidents since Ronald Reagan.The Herman Cain I know would not and could not do what you are accused of. And I know it is incredibly unfair to ask you, in effect, to prove a negative. How the hell does one prove one did not do something? But Herman, part of your refreshing appeal is your willingness to say things like “I don’t know” and “I’ll surround myself with the best people who do know.”It is abundantly obvious to a lot of us Herman that you are not living up to your own words. You said you would surround yourself with the best people — the competent people to help you.Last week, J.D. Gordon had a disastrous performance on a Blackberry on Geraldo’s show. His performance set the tone for the Monday news shows, all of which pointed out that your own communications vice president would not deny the story.Then Mark Block went on TV to blame Curt Anderson only to walk it back the next day.This week, Mark Block again went on TV, said he had verified the identify of a reporter as the son of your accuser, and got it totally wrong. But he said it was verified. It was a lie.Herman, you said you’d surround yourself with the best people and you’ve surrounded yourself with Class A failures. The problems you are facing are problems of campaign staffing. You’ve failed to live up to your own standard of hiring the best people.I still believe you can win. But to do so, you must fire your staff and start over. It is the only way forward for you. This communications strategy has been an unmitigated disaster. And if this story doesn’t kill your campaign, the one about Mark Block initially running your campaign through a 501(c)(3) surely will.Herman, you must reboot for victory.Your friend,
Erick