Herman Cain Compares Himself to Moses; Avoids Sexual Harassment Claims
Herman Cain, amid uncertainties over his presidential run following accusations of sexual harassment, told Republicans Saturday that when God initially prompted him to run for president he was reluctant like Moses, but now there is no question of him looking back.
“When I finally realized that it was God saying that this is what I needed to do, I was like Moses. ‘You’ve got the wrong man, Lord. Are you sure?’” Cain told about 100 members of the Georgia Young Republicans at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta Saturday.
The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO stressed it was God who persuaded him to run for the White House after incessant prayers. “That’s when I prayed and prayed and prayed,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying. “I’m a man of faith – I had to do a lot of praying for this one, more praying than I’ve ever done before in my life.”
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Cain did not mention the accusations of sexual harassment made by four female subordinates at the National Restaurant Association over a decade ago, but he apparently alluded to it saying once he decided to run “I did not look back.”
“And one of the misperceptions that some people have [is] that I’m not in this to win it,” he said. “I’m in this to win it, or I wouldn’t be in it! I’m not going anywhere!”
Cain said this a day after CBS News poll showed that with the support of 18 percent of Republican primary voters he would still win in a three-way race against former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Cain’s support has come down from 25 percent on Oct. 25, and especially female support has dropped substantially from 28 percent a month earlier to 15 percent. But his overall support is still enough to beat his two rivals.
Cain’s accusers claim he sexually harassed them when he was the president of the restaurant association in the 1990s, and paid them money not to speak about it. But Cain insists he was wrongfully accused.
However, this is not the first time Cain has compared himself to Moses. He told the Christian Broadcasting Network last month that God had been behind him ever since he made the decision to run for president.
“I felt like Moses when God said I want you to go into Egypt and lead my people out. Moses resisted. I resisted,” Cain said Oct 10.
Five days later, he said his presidential run was in God’s hand. “I don’t know if I’m the leader that this nation needs at this particular point in our history but I believe God almighty knows,” he said at the Faith and Freedom Coalition rally in Ohio. “And if I am, it is in the hands of God almighty. Not a party. Not the media.”
Cain is not the only presidential candidate to claim God’s calling either.
In the run up to the official announcement of her run in May, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said she thought God was “calling” her to seek the Republican presidential nomination. “I’ve had this calling and tugging on my heart that this is the right thing to do,” she was quoted as saying.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s wife Anita has also said she thinks it is God who wanted her husband to run for president and that he needed to see a “burning bush.”
