NBC/WSJ poll: 54% of Republicans say allegations against Cain don’t matter
posted at 4:50 pm on November 7, 2011 by Allahpundit
Interesting, but I don’t know how useful pre-Bialek polls are now. Once you’ve got an accuser willing to stand behind her name and in front of a camera, public perceptions are bound to change. (They’re changing already on InTrade.) Unless her story falls apart quickly, these numbers will be different next week, so this is worth noting more for comparison purposes later than on their fleeting merits.
In the poll, 54 percent of Republican voters say they aren’t concerned about voting for Cain after these allegations, while another 15 percent say they are “just a little” concerned…
In October’s NBC/WSJ survey, 24 percent of all respondents had a positive impression of the ex-Godfather’s Pizza CEO, and 18 percent had a negative impression of him.
But according to this new poll, that negative number has jumped up to 35 percent, while 23 percent have a positive opinion of Cain.
Thirteen percent of Republicans say they’re concerned a “great deal” or “quite a bit” by the allegations but there’s no way to know if that’s significant without knowing who those voters currently favor. If they’re all committed to Romney and Perry, then meh. If they’re undecided, that’s a big deal. Meanwhile, new from Gallup:
That’s good news for Cain (and really good news for Newt), but I wonder how much higher his numbers would have been if not for last week’s media mudslide. Yeah, he’s tied for the lead with Romney, but he exceeded 21 percent in 10 of the last 11 national polls taken. Fifty-three percent of Republicans tell Gallup that the charges against Cain are “probably” or “definitely” not true, but again, this is a pre-Bialek poll. Here’s a fun stat, though:
Republicans with an opinion are inclined to say Cain has done a good job (45%) rather than a bad job (36%) of handing the charges, although almost one in five don’t have an opinion.
If publicly accusing Perry of a “despicable” smear without any hard evidence is handling it well, I’m keen to know what handling it badly looks like. Exit question one: Time for Romney to go for broke in Iowa? If Cain really does start to fade now, I think he’ll find it irresistible. Exit question two: What’s really going to hurt Cain more in the long run? He said/she saids with former NRA employees, or answers like this?
Blowback
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lorien1973 on November 7, 2011 at 7:27 PM
that’s quite irrelevant, since you wrote that
i’m getting tired of you now.
sesquipedalian on November 7, 2011 at 7:28 PM
LOL, you’re quoting the headline. I didn’t ask for you to quote a headline.
I asked to you show us where in her statement today she accused Cain of sexual assault.
Since you’re too lazy to look for the transcript of her statement, I did the work for you. Now please read her statement and tell us where she accuses Cain of sexual assault.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-cain-accuser-sharon-bialek-20111107-pdf,0,7686179.htmlpage
Del Dolemonte on November 7, 2011 at 7:29 PM
That’s an oily, evasive answer.
The question should be “You don’t like Cain as a presidential candidate, do you?”
That being said, there’s no doubt AP has been infinitely more objective on this than AoS.
Dude has gone into ‘jump the shark’ territory.
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on November 7, 2011 at 7:29 PM
No, you’re getting tired of losing. Tell us again how the time span between early May and early June is “days later”. It’s not.
Del Dolemonte on November 7, 2011 at 7:30 PM
oh, so that’s why you’re calling me a rapist.
sesquipedalian on November 7, 2011 at 7:31 PM
Ace is tired of the cult phenomenon around some of these candidates. And he’s right.
They are just politicians. People get too emotionally invested in these people. Gotta step back from that and look at reality. Cain is done here. It’s a little sad that we can’t just accept that and move on.
lorien1973 on November 7, 2011 at 7:32 PM
Translated: “I’m not going to read the transcript of Bialek’s statement!”
Del Dolemonte on November 7, 2011 at 7:32 PM
Don’t believe I did that. Feeling guilty, I suppose, for supporting a group who is full of them. Then, coming here and complaining about a guy who, apparently, has done far far less.
Then again, I should accuse you of it, right? Cuz you, and our other drive by trolls, have accused people in the tea party of being racists on far less evidence.
lorien1973 on November 7, 2011 at 7:34 PM
“Instead of going in he suddenly reached over and put his hand on my leg, under my skirt and reached for my genitals. He also grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch.”
sesquipedalian on November 7, 2011 at 7:34 PM
Just did a Google news search-the one headline you cherry-picked was the only one I could find that used the words “sexual assault”, other than a gay blog and some Left Wing political sites.
Still waiting for you to show us where in her statement she accuses Cain of sexual assault. Knock yourself out.
Del Dolemonte on November 7, 2011 at 7:37 PM
I figured out who she looks like!
Murphy Brown/Candace Bergen! The irony is thick!
SouthernGent on November 7, 2011 at 7:38 PM
it’s obviously not “full of them” and it’s indeed sad that some perverts take advantage of the situation.
prove that i ever did that.
in fact, you’re the one who’s behaving like a troll, with your wildly exaggerated and extraneous claims intended to provoke a reaction.
sesquipedalian on November 7, 2011 at 7:39 PM
Yeah that too! Stifler’s mom is a lot closer though.
lorien1973 on November 7, 2011 at 7:40 PM
This event has turned into a mini Money Bomb for Cain. He has now raised $100,000 in the past couple of hours since the Allred press conference.
cynccook on November 7, 2011 at 7:40 PM
The re-elect Romney fund?
sharrukin on November 7, 2011 at 7:42 PM
Again, you don’t answer my question. Where in her statement does she use the words sexual assault?
Another question-if it’s “sexual assault”, how come only the one source you cherry-picked used those words in their headlines? No one else did. Why is that?
As for your link, it’s to a group led by Democrat Trial Lawyers.
Del Dolemonte on November 7, 2011 at 7:43 PM
Yep, he will suck many “suckers” dry before this is over. Gary Hart, anyone?
TheRightMan on November 7, 2011 at 7:48 PM
you’re so cute. what she’s describing is a sexual assault, even if she doesn’t use the word “assault.” just admit you were wrong and get over it.
i’m not writing their headlines, although quite a few papers went with it, including newsmax, the daily telegraph (UK), the christian post, newsvine, etc.
sesquipedalian on November 7, 2011 at 7:50 PM
Jeff Goldstein of Protein Wisdom had the best perspective on this on a post about the administration and Dems attempting to use “Fast and Furious” to predictably enact more stringent gun control combined with the overreaching statist fiasco of Obamacare:
“We’re living through an attempted coup. And our major worry seems to be how well Herman Cain’s staff is handling suggestions that he once made a pass at a woman. Who waited 16 years to hold a press conference about it.
No wonder we’re so well and truly f**ked.“
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on November 7, 2011 at 7:51 PM
If another woman or more show their faces and make accusations, will Cain’s supporters keep assuring its a conspiracy?
One or two nameless women, maybe. Now one comes out in public, and who knows if another will go public as well.
Not to judge the man, it could all be false allegations, but its time to face reality.
The left would rather use this information during a general election.
V-rod on November 7, 2011 at 7:52 PM
It’s amazing to me how the republicans claim to be the party of ‘fiscal responsibility’, and then go waste their money on someone who’s dead in the water.
triple on November 7, 2011 at 7:52 PM
It’s their money.
See the difference?
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on November 7, 2011 at 7:54 PM
If that’s how they spend their money, imagine why I don’t want them spending my money..
triple on November 7, 2011 at 7:56 PM
Just got a Tweet from “Comic Book Guy”
Worst.
Answer.
Ever.
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on November 7, 2011 at 7:58 PM
Speak for yourself, Doc. If 54% of Republicans say allegations against Cain don’t matter, then there’s something seriously wrong with the firing synapses of 54% of Republicans. Ace has pointed out–and I agree–this strange indifference to the truth where Cain is concerned is…troubling, and doesn’t speak well for our chances in the general election.
Right now, we are confronted by a federal government under the control of a pack of corrupt Chicago machine socialists determined to transform our country into an authoritarian superstate completely antithetical to every principle our nation was founded upon. What we need to do is nominate a candidate who can (1) Defeat President Obama in the general election; and (2) Roll back every policy and program initiated by his administration.
Nominating Herman Cain would be a disastrous move. Sexual harassment allegations aside, there is nothing charming or authentic about a presidential candidate who displays ignorance of foreign and domestic policy issues, national politics and process, or even basic civics and current events.
So yeah, I’m with Ace on this one, and if my fellow Republicans don’t think these allegations matter–and that means the truth doesn’t matter–then the GOP needs to rethink itself.
We have met the enemy and he is us, I guess.
troyriser_gopftw on November 7, 2011 at 8:04 PM
I couldn’t agree more. And I offer as Exhibit A, Del Delmonte – one of the more intelligent commenters on this site – who is so desperate to defend Cain that he claims placing a hand on a woman’s thigh and moving it towards her vagina – without her consent – isn’t a sexual assault.
Give your heads a shake folks. Herman Cain ain’t worth 4 more years of Obama.
Basilsbest on November 7, 2011 at 8:14 PM
Agreed. The GOP is broken beyond repair. And the solution isn’t running a bunch of “outsider” candidates who are out of their depth (e.g. Christine O’Donnell), sympathetic to conspiracy theories, or completely lacking in political experience.
jazz_piano on November 7, 2011 at 8:18 PM
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
If Clinton’s alleged rapist activities & numerous harassment of many women, INCLUDING the PROVEN activities with Lewinsky, are not an issue for the left, then whatever anyone is alleging Cain did means jack squat.
It’s getting to the point that I would not care if it were eventually proven Cain did these things.
I am sick & tired of the media tearing apart conservative candidates & blatantly ignoring the activities of liberals.
It’s disgusting & endless & I am really starting to get more & more pi$$ed off about it.
Badger40 on November 7, 2011 at 8:41 PM
Put your head in the sand Badger40 and pretend that the gander does not control the media. People like you will guarantee Obama a second term. But all of this is secondary to your pissedoffednesss. Child.
Basilsbest on November 7, 2011 at 8:46 PM
Alan Shore + Shirley Schmidt = Sharon Bialek
http://www.tvloop.com/boston-legal/show/photos/top10/alan-shore-1356/2
It’s uncanny!
Punchenko on November 7, 2011 at 9:13 PM
Creepy.
Del Dolemonte on November 7, 2011 at 9:35 PM
Wow, I’m Impressed by that list.
Especially since some of those links are simply reprinting the WND story.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
Del Dolemonte on November 7, 2011 at 9:38 PM
Sorry, but if you actually bother to read my posts in this thread, and apparently you didn’t, all I said was that she never used the words sexual assault in her statement. Yet sesquipedalian claimed that she did, by quoting a headline that wasn’t true.
Thanks for the compliment on my intelligence, but no thanks for accusing me of saying something in this thread I never said.
Give your head a shake.
Del Dolemonte on November 7, 2011 at 9:44 PM
Most frustrating here is the press (well, it’s predictable) With Clinton, the press first action was to attack the women and defend Clinton. Here, the first action is to go after Cain while defending the accusing women.
… and those of you here ready to dump Cain because of the allegations, you’ve just surrendered to the media. All they have to do is bring out a few accusers and bam! you’re done with the conservative candidate. Credibility or not, all you care about is the accusations. Once you’ve surrendered to that, you’ve given the MSM the power to take out any one of our candidates and let them, by default, select the one most likely to lose to Obama or who will be so weak that he won’t roll back any of the destructive policies Obama put in place.
AZfederalist on November 7, 2011 at 9:57 PM
I’m sure you’re an expert on sucking. \
Hard Right on November 7, 2011 at 10:32 PM
Would these guys have defeated the British?
Would these guys have climbed down the Palisades to the Hudson River in the dark?
Would these guys have survived Valley Forge with no shoes in winter?
Would they have marched and fought without shoes?
Would these guys have birthed a nation like ours?
I am sick of this. Thank God my lifespan is almost over so I don’t have to live in their world very long.
platypus on November 7, 2011 at 10:33 PM
No use reasoning with them.
Del Dolemonte on November 7, 2011 at 11:00 PM
They are idiots. Probably former Palin supporters looking for another unelectable candidate to give their rent money to.
csdeven on November 7, 2011 at 11:31 PM
I give Cain the benefit of the doubt.
The lady never once looks directly at the audience and the story is almost a cliche.
His hand up her privates? And pushing her down on his?
Give me a break!
Sherman1864 on November 8, 2011 at 1:43 AM
Yeah, good luck proving that in any court of law in this country. Furthermore, if the loose definition you losers are using to define sexual assault is accurate, then every person on the planet is guilty of, or will be guilty of sexual assault several times in their lifetime.
Well, I would hope they would continue to support him no matter how many less than credible accusers come forward. Now, if we get someone to come forward with a credible story, that’s a different issue. That hasn’t happened yet.
By the way, how many questionable accusations should it have taken before Nikki Haley’s supporters dumped her?
xblade on November 8, 2011 at 2:44 AM
I wonder if they dragged a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park to find these women. Hope they got change back. None of them are worth a C-note.
Extrafishy on November 8, 2011 at 6:19 AM
Quotes from her supposed friends.
Hard Right on November 8, 2011 at 11:42 AM
Awww.
Isn’t Moby and Troll love adorable?
Get a room, kids.
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on November 8, 2011 at 11:56 AM
Okay… so…
Republicans saying these allegations don’t matter, seriously hurts our argument.
These allegations do matter, they matter a lot.
Our real issue is that they aren’t “valid”.
The correct headline is that Republicans don’t believe the accusations are valid, and perceive this as character assassination.
Lawrence on November 9, 2011 at 11:27 AM
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