The Race Traitor stuff is just too deeply ingrained. Believe me, as much as I hound people for being blindly optimistic about hopeless candidates, I seriously thought Michael Steele had a chance in the Maryland Senate race.
Good point. I'm wary of Cain primarily based on political experience issues even though I like his platform. However, there seem to be a number of variables on this election season which are vastly different than prior ones and I would hesitate to try and predict what affect any incident will have based on prior experience.
If the worst accusations are true, I can see Cain easily turning this around by seeking forgiveness, making the Romney establishment the bad guy which could turn both conservatives and minorities.
Of course he will loose the purists on the conservative party but no real life candidate will ever satisfy them. This incident is definitely a turning point for Cain to earn his political stripes.