# Cain & why politicians don't admit **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 3, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985 "2011-12-03T22:29:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/1 "2011-12-03T22:29:19Z")
(There are a couple of Cain threads, but I have a specific question. Hope this is the right place mods, it might be IMHO or GQ or something?) It seems Cain is trying to tell people that he: 1. Had a friend his wife didn’t know about 2. he paid her rent & other expenses 3. for 13 years 4. he didn’t have sex with her 5. all the other things about extramarital sex etc aren’t true either (TBH, I haven’t researched this, I mainly read about him in Dutch and English news sources, which aren’t super detailed about the issues. I might not completely understand.) That’s fine & I honestly couldn’t care less. But what I wonder is this: Surely to absolutely everybody on earth this sounds incredibly implausible, making him seem dishonest. Would it not be better to admit to having made mistakes? So the question is: is he saying this on the off chance that a very small percentage of the population will actually believe him? Wouldn’t there be _more_ people who are willing to give him a second chance if he admits? What about people on this board? Does anyone believe him? Would you be more likely to forgive someone who made a mistake, or more likely to vote for someone who sticks with a very, very implausible story? Maybe there are statistics on the outcomes of these incidents? Has the population previously believed such crazy claims? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/2 "2011-12-03T23:03:25Z")
“Mistakes were made” might have gotten him out of one accusation of infidielity, but the concept of keeping a mistress for 13 years (without his wife’s knowledge) along with the repeated accusations of sexual harassment in his professional life would make him unelectable to a large portion of “family values” conservative voters. Much better to deny and blame the media. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/3 "2011-12-06T08:58:14Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > …keeping a mistress for 13 years (without his wife’s knowledge) along with the repeated accusations of sexual harassment in his professional life would make him unelectable to a large portion of “family values” conservative voters. Well, as long as they’ve got their [priorities](http://www.theonion.com/articles/rumors-of-extramarital-affair-end-campaign-of-pres,26801/) straight. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/4 "2011-12-06T09:07:25Z")
In many cases, I think it’s a matter of lack of foresight and planning–politicians thinking they are good enough to pull it off. In Cain’s case, I think it was more like Sandusky in that TV news interview–admitting guilt is just unconscionable for him. (Sandusky seems to have trouble admitting it to himself, though, and I don’t know if that applies to Cain. ---
**Author:** ![rikc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c57346/32.png) [@rikc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rikc)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/5 "2011-12-06T10:25:46Z")
I think a heterosexual, extramarital, typical sex scandal can be weathered (the 13-year affair is a different story) if a candidate has a study standing with the public and a strong message to ride it out on, but Cain didn’t; he was a fresh political face going after the nation’s highest office with little more than charisma, there wasn’t a lot of room for error during his ascent. On top of that, his campaign’s response to the allegations was so unorganized and conflicting that he probably couldn’t have admitted to an affair if he _wanted_ to. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/6 "2011-12-06T15:38:00Z")
> [@rikc](#): > > On top of that, his campaign’s response to the allegations was so unorganized and conflicting that he probably couldn’t have admitted to an affair if he _wanted_ to. This is really the only value I see in bringing up this kind of tripe. I mean, Clinton is an excellent example of how marital fidelity has nothing to do with successful statesmanship. But what is more telling with Cain, and stories like his, is their spin-machine doesn’t work. If your camp can’t even come up with a consistent message, no matter how ill-advised or how intense the fallout, what hope do you have for keeping on course when you’re sitting in The Big Chair and your decisions and message _really_ matter? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/7 "2011-12-06T16:19:26Z")
The thing is, when you start the lie it could be at the point where few facts are out and your version of events may be more plausible than the truth. Then as more facts come out, and it’s clear to everyone what happened, what do you do? Now you’re adulterous _and_ a liar. Your candidacy is over, so although you could man up and humiliate yourself by coming clean, it won’t gain you anything. May as well just resign your candidacy and hope people soon forget about you. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/8 "2011-12-06T16:26:35Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Much better to deny and blame the media. You don’t even have to deny the affair; just blame the media for dwelling on it and demand to talk about “real issues.” See: Gingrich, Newt. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/9 "2011-12-06T17:42:46Z")
It killed Newt’s Congressional career, though, and kept him out of elected office for 15-odd years. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cain-why-politicians-dont-admit/604985/10 "2011-12-06T21:55:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It killed Newt’s Congressional career, though, and kept him out of elected office for 15-odd years. Sort of. What killed his career was a congressional ethics investigation finding his financial activities fraudulent and intentionally in violation of house rules. He resigned when his party threatened to oust him. The fact Newt is considered a possible candidate for the president today is pretty sad. He’s a con man who flagrantly violated the law then lied about it before congress. all the while trying to use his power as speaker to dismiss charges against himself. Newt’s infidelity wasn’t made public until after he’d left office. It may have kept him out of office but it did nothing to get him ousted.