The Herman Cain Campaign

ABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf ( @zbyronwolf) reports:

Day four of the Herman Cain scandal – so far – has made the story more difficult to follow, with the candidate popping up without warning on the Internet or the radio, contradicting his chief of staff and pointing the finger at Rick Perry.

It was another day without an accuser going public. There are three and all remain anonymous. Here are the major threads of Herman Cain’s day:

Fund-raising – Cain continues to report record fundraising. Jon Karl reports the campaign says it has raised $1.2 million since the harassment story broke in Politico Sunday night.  This is nearly half of what they raised in the entire third quarter.

Cain also had breakfast with Henry Kissinger this morning, according to Karl’s sources. http://abcn.ws/uPYcOT

Payoff Figures – One of the women paid to settle a sexual harassment claim by the National Restaurant Association in the late ’90s received $45 k, according to Politico.

The other woman paid to settle received $35k, according to the New York Times.

Finger-Pointing – Mark Block, Cain’s Chief of Staff, seemed to walk back his accusation that a former Cain staffer now with the Perry campaign was the source of the leak.

But late this afternoon Cain stood by the accusation in an interview with Sean Hannity.

“Let’s just say, there aren’t enough breadcrumbs that we can lay down that leads us anywhere else at this point in time,” he said.

That ’04 Cain ’11 Perry staffer, Curt Anderson, that the Cain campaign suggested was the source of the leak, told CNN “I’m disappointed that he tried to use me as a pawn to get him out of his mess that he’s in.” http://abcn.ws/va4Dcu

The finger-pointing makes Anita Perry sad, according to ABC’s Arlette Saenz:  http://abcn.ws/vtqRYj

The Cain story in one place from ABC’s Huma Khan – http://abcn.ws/rrGRVV   

The person that would naturally seem to be benefitting from all this is Mitt Romney, who has plodded along on the trail and in the polls. But, confounding his obvious policy evolution on things like abortion,  he said on camera at an editorial board that he’s been quite consistent, according to ABC’s Emily Friedman.

“I’ve been as consistent as human beings can be as I look at those issues and as I try and apply those principles to government.”

“I cannot state every single issue in exactly the same words every single time and so there are some folks who obviously for, you know, for various political and campaign purposes will try and find some change and draw great attention to something which looks like a change which in fact is entirely consistent.”

We imagine we’ll see more of that tape in the future.

Dems Hit Romney on Abortion, Personhood – Democrats have opened an emotionally charged new front in their campaign against Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, using a scathing new web video to blast his swing to the right on the issue of abortion rights. What the Dems’ ad says, how they’re right and how they’re wrong, here: http://abcn.ws/us9iPQ

On Herman Cain, Bill Clinton and Public Opinion… a Note on Scandal from Gary Langer:  “Our past polling has indicated that, for officeholders, the public assesses scandals on three main points: Whether they indicate serious wrongdoing, not a trivial offense; whether they’re relevant to the individual’s official responsibilities; and whether they’re contemporaneous or at least reasonably recent, rather than from the deep, dark past. A scandal needn’t fire on all these cylinders but they’re relevant in its ultimate impact.” http://abcn.ws/rBYdwZ

366 Days Later – One year and one day ago Americans elected a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

Different leaders gave different grades, according to ABC’s John Parkinson. Boehner boasted that the GOP has changed the focus in Washington: “Rather than debating about how much more we’re going to spend, the debate over the course of the last year is about how much we’re going to cut, and in fact, we are cutting spending.”

Pelosi said the GOP has failed to deliver jobs to the American people. “Over 300 days that the Republicans have been in power, they have not produced,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said. “They have not created jobs for the American people, and that is, I think, the measure that we want to compare our first 300 days.”

More from Parkinson: http://abcn.ws/u3j2xW

Occupy Mitch McConnell’s Office – “Wearing homemade T-shirts with the words “I need a job” written on the front and back, about 20 unemployed D.C. residents today staged a sit-in at the office of Senate Minority Leader’s office,” according to ABC’s Sunlen Miller and Serena Marshall:  http://abcn.ws/uElZAh

Testy in the Senate – Two infrastructure bills in the Senate. Both failed.

Reid – “”I can’t imagine that they really believe they’re doing the right thing by voting against asking the richest of the rich – .2 percent of the richest people in America – not contributing a small amount to creating jobs in America today,”

McConnell – “I’m sure that it is the case that most Americans support raising taxes on high-income individuals. My guess is they might have a different view if they knew that four out of five of those individuals would actually business owners,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said today on the Senate floor.

Sunlen Miller reports both sides argue that the other side’s plan is “designed to fail,” more to “make a point,” knowing full well that neither has the magic 60 votes to get through in the Senate. http://abcn.ws/rwk1JB

Santorum’s Dream – Abolish the 9th!- Shush Walshe got a sneak peak on his new policy portfolio: It includes calling on Congress  to abolish the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, pass a personhood amendment, reinstate DADT, repealing Title X family planning regulations, ban referrals for abortion, revive DOMA, pushing an anti-same-sex marriage amendment. http://abcn.ws/tq93YQ

Coming Home – Photos of soldiers reuniting with loved ones (sad, happy, and one floppy-eared dog): http://abcn.ws/tTQMla

Preying on the Military – Holly Petraeus tells Congress for-profit colleges are actively preying on military personnel. http://abcn.ws/t4xACB

The White House used that testimony, according to Ann Compton, “to make a vigorous new argument to attempt to persuade the Senate to confirm Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.” http://abcn.ws/u6gvvH

Young People Like Obama, BUT – From Devin Dwyer – “Voters under 30 – the so-called millennial generation – propelled Barack Obama to victory in 2008, voting Democratic by a historic 34-point margin, which separated  it from older generations of voters by a wider gap than ever before. That preference gap persists, a new Pew Research Center study finds, with younger voters still backing the president by much greater margins than older generations.” BUT, “Pew found their  enthusiasm substantially waning: Only 49 percent approve of Obama’s job performance”: http://abcn.ws/t00JPs

Yes We Cannes! – Mary Bruce reports from France with President Obama at the G20 – While the Eurozone plan lacks specificity, White House aides said the situation in Greece highlights the need for a “firewall” to prevent one country’s troubles from spreading elsewhere in Europe.

“The situation there underscores the need to move rapidly… including having a firewall that is sufficiently robust and effective in assuring that a crisis does not spread from one country to another,” Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs Mike Froman said. “That has been a consistent message that the president and Secretary [Timothy] Geithner have shared with their counterparts in Europe.” http://abcn.ws/sNiGiQ

Florida Still Key to Primary, General - Despite going only fourth in the primaries (sorry, guys), Florida could sitll be decisive in primary. And its going to play a big role in the general too. ABC’s Matt Jaffe lays it out: http://abcn.ws/sYu0tY