The latest woman to come forward accusing Herman Cain of an inappropriate relationship appears to have triggered a possible withdrawal from the presidential race. Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times writes:

In a morning conference call with his advisers, Mr. Cain said that he would make a decision in the coming days about whether to stay in the race after his campaign was rocked by another round of allegations about his sexual conduct.

The call, which was first reported by National Review, came as Mr. Cain was heading to Michigan for a campaign stop on Tuesday evening. He said that he was discussing the future of his campaign with his family and was considering his options.

"This is cause for reassessment," Mr. Cain said, according to one participant on the call who spoke on condition of anonymity. "During the summer we had to make some reassessments based on our financial situation. We were able to hang in there."

I have no idea whether the woman's accusations have any basis in reality. But the old saying has it, "If you throw enough mud, some will stick," and it certainly has some wisdom and behind it. Herman Cain will have to battle uncertainty in voters' minds rather than persuade them of his worthiness for the presidency, quite a formidable task in the wake of his foreign policy unpreparedness so visible the last few weeks.

But if Cain withdraws from the race, inevitably some people will take it as an adnmission of guilt, unless he dedicates his energies to proving false the various alegations, which, because they are "he said/she said" in nature, is allmost impossible.