THE FORMER speaker of the House of Congress, Newt Gingrich, appears likely to benefit most from the withdrawal of African-American businessman Herman Cain from the race for Republican presidential nominee.
Two polls published at the weekend showed Mr Gingrich leading in Iowa, which will hold its caucuses, a sort of informal primary, on January 3rd.
Mr Cain announced he was “suspending” his candidacy because of the strain that “false accusations” by five women of sexual misconduct put on his family, and because he found it increasingly difficult to raise funds. “Suspending” rather than terminating the campaign enables Mr Cain to continue to accept donations.
Mr Cain repeatedly mentioned God and prayer in his departing speech at a rally on Saturday that was to have inaugurated his campaign headquarters in Atlanta.
“With a lot of prayer and soul-searching I am suspending my presidential campaign . . . because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters,” he said.
Gloria, Mr Cain’s wife of 43 years, stood behind him. He said he was “at peace with my God . . . at peace with my wife – and she is at peace with me”.
Mr Cain had continued to campaign last week, after Ginger White, an Atlanta businesswoman, told a local television station that her 13-year affair with him ended when he became a presidential candidate. He said he would take his decision after discussing the campaign with his wife in person, but he waited five days to fly to Atlanta to see Ms Cain.
Support for Mr Gingrich has risen in direct proportion to the fall in Mr Cain's fortunes. In the Des Moines Registerpoll in late October, Mr Cain led with 23 per cent, compared to 7 per cent for Mr Gingrich. Mr Gingrich led this weekend's poll with 25 per cent support from Republican caucus-goers.
When the most recent survey began, Mr Cain’s support stood at 12 per cent, but it plummeted to 4 per cent in socially conservative Iowa after Ms White’s allegations.
Mr Gingrich and Mr Cain were friendly on the campaign trail, sharing private jokes from adjoining lecterns during a recent debate. Both are from Georgia. They share a history of womanising, an abrasive style and outsized egos.
Mr Cain was the first African-American to achieve frontrunner status in a Republican presidential contest. He boasted of having never been a politician and, like former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, he flaunted the label “businessman” as his chief qualification.
Gifted with a deep baritone voice, Mr Cain would delight audiences by bursting into song. He offered simple solutions to complex problems; his trademark 999 plan would have replaced the US tax code with a 9 per cent sales tax, 9 per cent income tax and 9 per cent corporate tax.
“Right now, my name ID is probably 99.9,” Mr Cain joked when he pulled out of the race.
Four women said Mr Cain sexually harassed them when he was president of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s, about the time he allegedly started the affair with Ms White.
Mr Cain's poor grasp of foreign policy was also an obstacle. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelthat went viral on the internet, he stared at the ceiling and hemmed and hawed for five minutes when asked about the Obama administration's policy on Libya.
Mr Cain first came to national attention in 1994, when he argued with then president Bill Clinton, over the requirement that businesses provide healthcare insurance for their employees, for eight minutes at a town hall meeting.
He relished the nickname bestowed by a Republican consultant, “the Hermanator”. He also called himself “Citizen Cain” and referred to his campaign as “the Cain Train”. Mr Cain has promised to endorse one of the seven remaining candidates soon.