Cain’s exit makes Republican race a two-man contest

WITH the implosion of Herman Cain’s campaign amid accusations of adultery and sexual harassment, the once-crowded 2012 Republican presidential field appears to be narrowing to a two-man race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.

Republican voters have one month before the Iowa caucuses. Gingrich is showing strength in the latest Iowa poll, while Romney is strong in New Hampshire, the site of the first primary.

Romney has maintained a political network since his failed 2008 presidential bid, especially in New Hampshire while Gingrich, whose campaign nearly collapsed several months ago, is relying on his debate performances and the goodwill he built up with some conservatives as a congressional leader in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gingrich’s efforts appear to be paying off in Iowa. A new Des Moines Register poll found the former House speaker leading the field with 25% support, ahead of Ron Paul at 18% and Romney at 16%.

Cain’s suspension of his campaign on Saturday, and Texas governor Rick Perry’s continued struggles to make headway with voters, have focused the party’s attention on Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, and Gingrich, a one-time congressman from Georgia. They offer striking contrasts in personality, government experience and campaign organisation.

Their political philosophies and differences are a bit harder to discern. Both men have changed their positions on issues such as climate change. And Gingrich, in particular, is known to veer into unusual territories, such as child labour practices.

Cain’s announcement in Atlanta offered a possible opening for Romney or Gingrich to make a dramatic move in hopes of seizing momentum for the sprint to the January 3 Iowa caucus. Neither man did, seemingly willing to play things carefully and low-key.

At a town hall meeting in New York sponsored by tea party supporters, Gingrich declined to characterise the race as a direct contest between himself and Romney.

Any of the remaining party contenders could stage a comeback before the Iowa caucuses, he said.

“I’m not going to say that any of my friends can’t suddenly surprise us,” Gingrich said.

But once high-flying contenders such as Perry and Michele Bachmann of Minnesota have not managed to bounce back so far, despite weeks of trying.

In an interview on CNN yesterday Bachmann said she was the “consistent conservative” in the race and her campaign would benefit most from Cain’s departure.

“A lot of Herman Cain supporters have been calling our office and they’ve been coming over to our side,” she said.

“They saw Herman Cain as an outsider and I think they see that my voice would be the one that would be most reflective of his.”

Cain’s once-prospering campaign was undone by numerous allegations of sexual wrongdoing.

Gingrich, twice divorced and now married to a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair, has been the most obvious benef-iciary of Cain’s precipitous slide.

But Perry, Bachmann and possibly others are likely to make a play for Cain’s anti-establishment tea party backing. Time is running short for them to establish themselves as the top alternative to Romney, who has long been viewed with suspicion by many conservatives.

Former pizza magnate Cain dropped out of the presidential race on Saturday after accusations of sexual misconduct overwhelmed his bid to win the Republican nomination as an anti-Washington tax reformer.

Cain told followers in his hometown of Atlanta that “false and unproved” sexual accusations had forced him to suspend his White House bid.

He said he would endorse another candidate, effectively ending a roller-coaster campaign that saw the African-American businessman go from complete outsider to the rising star of Republican conservatives within a few weeks over the autumn.

Cain held a Friday night meeting with his wife, Gloria, who has stayed mostly silent as several women accused her husband of sexual harassment and an Atlanta businesswoman this week said she had carried out a 13-year affair with him. Gloria appeared at his side on Saturday and smiled throughout.