The latest Cain story contains no sexual assault. Just two $400 bottles of wine, and a whole bunch of creepy. But the thing I mentioned when this story first broke – that sexual harassment is almost always a pattern of behavior, not a single act – seems to me increasingly relevant. We have very credible accounts now of Cain's abuse of power to get sex. Many of his sex-objects are audience members or lower level staffers or volunteers or fans. He's not usually a gauche creep, as in his alleged sexual assault on Sharon Bialek. But he is still a creep:
Donna Donella, 40, of Arlington, said the USAID paid Cain to deliver a speech to businessmen and women in Egypt in 2002, during which an Egyptian businesswoman in her 30s asked Cain a question.
"And after the seminar was over," Donella told The Washington Examiner, "Cain came over to me and a colleague and said, 'Could you put me in touch with that lovely young lady who asked the question, so I can give her a more thorough answer over dinner?'"
Donella, who no longer works for USAID, said they were suspicious of Cain's motives and declined to set up the date. Cain responded, "Then you and I can have dinner." That's when two female colleagues intervened and suggested they all go to dinner together, Donella said.
These women immediately got it. When will the GOP?
(Photo: On Capitol Hill, met by crowds of media, Republican Presidential Candidate Herman Cain discusses the current healthcare system with House Republican lawmakers at a press conference, and later with other members of the GOP at the Capitol Hill Club behind closed-doors, on November 2, 2011. By Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images.
The Dish 