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Herman Cain spent a part of his life in Omaha, Nebraska, where I live.  Shortly after I became president of Grace University I met him.  We were beginning a major fund-raising effort at Grace and he was a man I wanted to meet.  We had lunch together and we talked about his business (Godfather?s Pizza) and about his faith.  At that point, he was attending one of the significant African-American churches in our community.  I gained an incredible respect for him.  He was articulate, confident and successful.  His life is a classic tale of individualism, hard work and fortitude.  Cain is a graduate of Morehouse College and Purdue University.  He ran a very successful company here in Omaha and then became, among other things, a significant motivational speaker.  Then he decided to run for president of the United States.  His campaign centered on his 9-9-9 tax reform plan, which was appealing for its simplicity and a certain degree of common sense.  For a short while, he was even leading in the Republican Party polls.

Then, the political bottom fell out of his campaign.  A series of women claimed that Cain was guilty of sexual harassment while he was leader of the National Restaurant Association.  As a part of a legal settlement, the National Restaurant Association conceded that it had made financial payments to two of the women.  Even with those revelations, Cain remained a viable candidate.  But, he crossed a point of political no return when Ginger White, an Atlanta woman, charged that he and Cain had a 13-year long affair, one that just ended.  Some of the details have not yet been proven, remaining to some degree a ?he-said, she-said? affair.  Yet, one cannot ignore the reality that a number of women have made serious allegations.  Indeed, Cain admitted in public that he has paid Ginger White quite a bit of money, all without his wife?s knowledge.  Amazingly, Cain?s attorney made the audacious and ridiculous claim that Cain and White?s relationship ?appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults?a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public.?  He went on that ?No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private life.  The public?s right to know and the media?s right to report have boundaries and most certainly those boundaries end outside of one?s bedroom.?  I could not disagree more!  As Albert Mohler has declared, ?Character does not end at the bedroom door.?  Herman Cain has a character flaw and these sexual escapades indicate the core of that flaw.  It is the public?s business whether candidates have sexually harassed women.  It is the public?s business to know whether a candidate has had a 13-year relationship with a woman, not his wife, which included significant payments of money.  The question of character is indeed one of the most important issues in evaluating candidates for public office.  Herman Cain has tragically failed that test of character and that is very sad.  We should be praying for him, for his wife and for his family.

See www.albertmohler.com (30 November 2011). PRINT PDF