Hermain Cain has announced that he will be meeting with his wife to discuss the affair claims against him. Cain also said that he will “clarify exactly what the next steps are” in regards to his campaign. Cain has asked for moral and financial support for when he meets with his wife, Gloria Cain. The presidential hopeful “In today’s political environment, the only way we can gauge true support is by the willingness of our supporters to invest in this effort.” Read more after the jump.

Julie1205

Presidential hopeful Herman Cain sent an e-mail message to supporters Friday, asking for their moral and financial support on the same day he is to meet with his wife to discuss allegations of a 13-year affair with another woman, plunging poll numbers and declining financial contributions.

“I am inviting you to share your voice with me, my family and staff, and the nation,” Cain said in the message. “In short, I need to know that you are behind me 100%. In today’s political environment, the only way we can gauge true support is by the willingness of our supporters to invest in this effort.”

Cain’s once-surging campaign has become hobbled in recent weeks by allegations of sexual harassment and, most recently, an Atlanta woman’s claim that she carried on a 13-year affair with him.

On Thursday, Cain told the editorial board of the New Hampshire Union Leader that he was considering dropping out of the race, but was continuing to meet all campaign commitments. In fact, Cain held a town hall meeting in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and his campaign rolled out a new initiative Friday called Women for Cain.

The effort is an “online national fellowship of women dedicated to helping elect Herman Cain as the next president of the United States,” according to its website.

Cain has acknowledged that Ginger White’s allegations have led to a drop in campaign contributions, and a new Des Moines Register poll shows Cain’s support among likely Republican Iowa caucus-goers has fallen to 8%, down from 23% in October. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, according to the newspaper.

Respondents said they were most concerned that Cain does not understand important issues, but said the allegations against him contribute to their concern, according to the newspaper.

This week, White told the media that she had an on-and-off affair with Cain for about 13 years. She described the affair as “very casual.”

Two women — Sharon Bialek and Karen Kraushaar — previously accused Cain of sexually harassing them in the 1990s while he was head of the National Restaurant Association. Two other women also have said Cain sexually harassed them while they worked at the association, but they have declined to be identified.

Cain told the Union Leader that he repeatedly gave White money to help her with “month-to-month bills and expenses.” However, he denied a sexual affair, as White alleges. He said the two were friends.

“I send checks to a lot of people. I help a lot of people,” Cain told Hannity. “That in itself is not proof. So the other allegation in terms of it being a 13-year physical relationship, that is her words against my word.”

In the interview, Cain said his wife, Gloria Cain, did not know about White or his financial support for her until the Atlanta woman came forward last week.

“My wife now knows,” Cain told the newspaper. “My wife and I have talked about it, and I have explained it to her. My wife understands that I’m a soft-hearted, giving person.”

Cain told staffers this week he was reassessing his campaign in the wake of White’s allegation of an affair, and he acknowledged to reporters Wednesday that her account had led to a drop in campaign contributions.

On Wednesday night, Cain told reporters in Ohio that he would wait until he could speak face-to-face with his wife on Friday before making any decision about his campaign.

He said in the Thursday Union Leader interview that his wife’s feelings, as well as the reaction from supporters and donors, would be important factors in deciding whether he will stay the race.

Cain told the newspaper he would drop out of the race if his wife asked him to, but quickly added that she wouldn’t.

Gloria Cain rarely makes public appearances or statements. Earlier this month, she spoke to Fox News, calling the sexual-harassment allegations “unfounded.”

In an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, White described her relationship with Cain as “a sexual affair,” and not a relationship based on love.

She told MSNBC that she was sad for Cain’s wife.

“I am not a cold-hearted person. I am a mother of two kids and, of course, my heart bleeds for this woman,” White told MSNBC. “I am deeply, deeply sorry if I’ve caused any hurt to her, to his kids and to his family. That was never my intention.”

Cain told the Union Leader that he gave White money, but refused to divulge how much.

Saying that no questions would have been raised if the story involved giving money to a needy male friend, Cain added that his wife “is comfortable with the explanation that I told her.”

Asked by the newspaper about reports of text messages he had exchanged with White, Cain confirmed that the woman had sent him about 70 such messages between October 22 and November 18, including some “asking for financial assistance.”

“She was out of work and had trouble paying her bills and I had known her as a friend,” Cain said. “She wasn’t the only friend who I had helped in these tough economic times, and so her messages to me were relating to ‘need money for rent’ or whatever the case may be. I don’t remember all the specifics.”

In a fund-raising letter Tuesday night after White spoke to the media about the alleged relationship, Cain wrote that “a troubled Atlanta businesswoman used national media outlets to promulgate a fabricated, unsubstantiated story about a 13-year affair with me. I am writing you today to assure you that this woman’s story is completely false.”

In a Wednesday appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” White said she was “very disappointing that he would call me troubled.”

“I’m only here to state the truth and what’s happened in the past,” she said.

She acknowledged that Cain had given her money. “I’ve received gifts and money for the last 2 1/2 years consistently,” she said, adding that he did not ask for anything in return.

She and Cain were in touch until last week, when word of the relationship began to leak and members of the media started calling her family, White said.

White said she came forward to share her side of the story.

“I can’t imagine waking up one morning and deciding to come out with this if this was not true,” she told ABC. “This has been a very difficult situation for myself, for my family, and it’s nothing that I am proud of.”

“So far I have been absolutely humiliated, embarrassed,” she said.

White said she had not saved receipts and notes throughout the affair because she never planned to make the relationship public.

But, she said, Cain took her on several trips, including to a boxing match in Las Vegas.

“I can’t make this stuff up,” she said.

Asked whether his recent texts to her included requests that she not come forward, she replied, “Absolutely not. The funny thing about Herman Cain is, never in a million years did he probably think that I would speak out on this. And honestly speaking, I never wanted to.”

White acknowledged that she has been sued for libel by a former business partner. “There were disputes and disagreements” with the partner and the experience became emotional, she said, acknowledging that she had made mistakes. White said she thought the situation had been resolved.

Cain’s attorney, Lin Wood, said on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” on Thursday that White has provided no proof of an affair or associated financial receipts.

He claimed his client has been a victim of unproven allegations and that the media should be asking tough questions of White.

Referring to five women who have made allegations against Cain, Morgan asked Wood if it was stretching credulity to suggest that all “of these woman are simply fantasies.”

“Let me suggest to you that five lies do not make one truth,” Wood replied. “When you talk about the importance of character … let’s look at it from the perspective of that candidate’s entire career and life. Don’t judge people’s character based on accusations made in the media that have not been proven with facts and, in fact, have been clearly denied by the candidate.”

The attorney said it was improper to answer specifics about the friendship and financial arrangements between Cain and White.

“I am not going to relegate the political process into a Jerry Springer show,” he said.

On Thursday, a campaign spokeswoman said Cain’s chief of staff met with the four-person Iowa team to emphasize that the election drive was moving forward.

“Mark Block, Herman Cain’s chief of staff and chief operating officer, just left a meeting at the Iowa headquarters with all four Iowa staffers,” said a statement by Lisa Lockwood, the communications director of Friends of Herman Cain’s Iowa staff. “The emphatic message is that the campaign is full steam ahead. Herman Cain is in it to win it. He always has been and that has not changed.”

The Iowa caucuses, the first formal test of the primary season, are scheduled for January 3.
CNN