Audio: Herman Cain sex scandal allegations are a smear job, says … Howard Stern

Howard Stern said this before Sharon Bialek fairly credibly detailed her alleged encounter with Herman Cain, so the shock jock might not be of the same opinion now. But this YouTube clip from a recent episode of Stern’s Sirius/XM radio show is fun to listen to for another reason: It starts with a soundbite of Cain himself singing a parody of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Cain’s version envisions a world without pizza.

Imagine the Cain campaign with no taint of sexual harassment allegations. Remember when he impressed us with his “Impossible Dream,” when he reassured a shell-shocked audience with an improvised “Amazing Grace,” when he made us laugh and reminded us what the country needs is a sense of humor?

Probably I’m waxing nostalgic too quickly: Cain’s campaign, “scorned and covered with scars,” is still striving furiously to battle Bialek’s accusations and will supposedly provide satisfactory answers to her testimony at a press conference tonight. And conservatives have surely rallied to Cain’s cause with their dollars. But, as I wrote yesterday, this story is not about to go away, Stern’s “smear job” opinion notwithstanding. In fact, as Ed reported this morning, a fifth woman has now raised questions about Cain’s behavior — and to a news outlet other than Politico:

Donna Donella, 40, of Arlington, said the USAID paid Cain to deliver a speech to businessmen and women in Egypt in 2002, during which an Egyptian businesswoman in her 30s asked Cain a question.

“And after the seminar was over,” Donella told The Washington Examiner, “Cain came over to me and a colleague and said, ‘Could you put me in touch with that lovely young lady who asked the question, so I can give her a more thorough answer over dinner?’”

Donella, who no longer works for USAID, said they were suspicious of Cain’s motives and declined to set up the date. Cain responded, “Then you and I can have dinner.” That’s when two female colleagues intervened and suggested they all go to dinner together, Donella said.

Cain exhibited no inappropriate sexual behavior during the dinner, though he did order two $400 bottles of wine and stuck the women with the bill, she said.

Unless Cain combats Bialek’s accusations point by point tonight, it’s hard to make a case that his continuance in the primary will substantially enhance the GOP’s ability to reach independents with a conservative message.

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