Accused Adulterer or Admitted Adulterer? Herman Cain Backers Look Warily to Newt Gingrich

The media meme du jour.

At Los Angeles Times, "Cain's backers warily consider Gingrich":

Republicans who don't want to vote for Mitt Romney had rallied behind the Atlanta businessman, but his campaign has been rocked by accusations of an affair. And the former House speaker has a marital track record of his own.

Herman Cain's latest presidential campaign implosion has put some of the Republican Party's most active voters in a distinctly uncomfortable position: deciding whether to abandon an accused adulterer to side with an admitted adulterer.

Even before Monday's allegation by an Atlanta businesswoman that she and Cain had a 13-year affair, the GOP contest was moving toward a two-man race between steady front-runner Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the latest candidate to catch the fancy of the anti-Romney forces. That movement now is expected to hasten.

Cain told backers Tuesday that he was "reassessing" his candidacy in light of the newest accusations, which follow allegations that he sexually harassed several women in the 1990s. His campaign offered no clue as to when he might come to a decision about his future.

In Iowa, where voting in the 2012 contest will begin in just over a month, an alternative to Romney has been intensely sought by the potent bloc of evangelical voters, who remain suspicious of his Mormon faith and his past support for abortion rights and gay rights. Many are throwing their support to Gingrich despite his history of extramarital affairs and two divorces.

"Newt's got the best shot of heading Romney off at the pass," said Steve Scheffler, head of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition and the state's Republican national committeeman.

Cain appears to be plowing ahead, actually. But the press has left the "Cain train" at the station. At USA Today, "News media gives up on Cain campaign."

See the full report at The Other McCain, "CRISIS LOOMS FOR HERMAN CAIN CAMPAIGN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE UPDATE: Cain Tells CNN He’ll Make Decision ‘Within the Next Several Days’."