***UPDATED: QUOTES***
The NRO is reporting that Cain, in a somber mood, told senior staff this morning that he is “reassessing” whether to stay in the race:
In a conference call this morning, Herman Cain told his senior staff that he is “reassessing” whether to remain in the race. He told them he will make his final decision “over the next several days.”
If this is true, it’s a bit of a shock to me as Cain has said he has nothing to hide and has maintained he has done nothing wrong. The fact that he would consider bowing out now would certainly be suspicious.
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UPDATE: Ed Henry tweets that Fox News’ Campaign Carl has confirmed the report above:
Fox’s Campaign Carl confirms Nat Review report Herman Cain said on conf call w/his team an “assessment” being made about state of candidacy
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UPDATE 2: ABC News confirms with Mark Block and provides quotes from the phone call:
Herman Cain’s chief of staff Mark Block confirmed to ABC News that the candidate told his senior staff this morning he’s reassessing whether to stay in the race, as reported by the National Review.
Cain said that he’ll make his final decision “over the next several days,” according to the National Review.
Cain’s deputy campaign manager, Linda Hansen, told ABC News that on the conference call Tuesday morning, “Mr. Cain told staff simply that, just as every time significant events occur, a reassessment is prudent.”
“A good businessman looks at the entire landscape before making decisions,” Hansen said. “He is, and has been, committed to promoting the issues and solutions that will make this nation stronger. Nothing about that has changed.”
On Monday, a Georgia woman said she had a 13-year long affair with the former chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza. Cain denied the affair, saying that Ginger White was a friend that he helped out financially but he did not have an extramarital affair with her.
“Now with this latest one we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud in some peoples’ minds as to whether or not they should support us going forward,” Cain told about 90 people on the conference call, the Des Moines Register reported.
Cain has been dogged by reports of sexual harassment in recent weeks.
Two other women have publicly accused Cain of sexual harassment when he was head of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990′s.