The latest round of allegations against Herman Cain about a 13-year long extramarital affair have taken their toll on his popularity in Iowa. The GOP presidential candidate has dropped 23 points in the polls since October.
Cain is now at 8 percent among likely Republican caucusgoers, The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll shows. That’s down from 23 percent in late October.
The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO is to huddle with his family late today as he reassesses his bid for the White House.
Although Cain has denied the affair, bad feelings about him doubled during the time the poll was in the field, from Sunday through Wednesday.
On a question about the candidate most likely to have a scandal in the White House, Cain’s numbers rose from 25 percent at the start of polling, then to 36 percent, and to 47 percent at the end of polling.
Asked which candidate caucusgoers most want to see in person, Cain was at 22 percent in a two-day rolling average of Sunday and Monday polling. That fell to 8 percent for the Tuesday-Wednesday results.
However, Cain's popularity drop looks may be a result of more than just sexual harrassment and affair allegations.
Poll respondent Carol Bohlen, 61, a retired Fort Dodge resident, said she wouldn’t support Cain if he were the nominee because she questions his knowledge of the issues.
“You have to know all the issues, foreign, domestic everything,” she said. Plus, “I just feel there’s too much coming out about his past, and I don’t think that would be very presidential.”