The mark of Cain

The American presidential race and the party primaries leading up to it constitute an endless fascination for me, like a freak show coming to town every four years. At the moment it is the Republican race and it is full of interest. Rick Perry, the front runner, suddenly forgot his own policies and is sunk. Mitt Romney, the current front runner, seems like an empty vessel, a rictus grin on a head devoid even of the intelligence needed to run a market stall.

Another leading contender is Newt Gingrich who, Americans have presumably forgotten, was fined $300,000 for making a misleading tax declaration, and who in 1998 presided over the worst mid-term performance of any party since the war.

Now Herman Cain steals the spotlight. A stream of women have claimed he sexually harassed them, and now another woman claims to have had a thirteen year affair, which Cain has denied but made no effort to disprove. Last night it all came to a head and he resigned his bid for the candidature.

Each time there seems to be someone who forgets that in running for President they will be subject to media scrutiny, some of it hostile. What sort of person with skeletons in his closet would be daft enough even to attempt a run? But they do. Someone always thinks he can cheat on his wife and nobody will know. Remember Gary Hart? John Edwards?

Addio Herman.

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