Cain suspends campaign, vows to work from outside the race
By Peter Schroder - 12/03/11 11:43 AM ET

Herman Cain said Saturday he will suspend his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination after several allegations of sexual impropriety against were made public.

"As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign," Cain said with his wife Gloria standing besdie him.

But Cain promised that he had a "plan B" to stay involved in the race and that he will make an endorsement in the near future.

Speaking in front of his campaigns new Atlanta headquarters, Cain repeatedly blamed "these false and unproved accusations" for derailing his presidential bid.

Cains said the allegatations about his past behavior was being spun "in the media and the court of public opinion" and it was hurting his family and preventing him from getting his message out.

"That spin hurts, it hurts my wife, it hurts my family, it hurts me, and it hurts the American people because you are being denied solutions to our problems," Cain said.

Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, began his run as a long-shot candidate given his lack of a political pedigree. But he surprised many when he surged to the top of some polls in the fall as conservative voters searched for a candidate other than former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

But his surge hit a wall after multiple allegations emerged that he sexually harassed women, including two such claims that the National Restaurant Association paid to settle when he was ran the organization.

A woman named Ginger White came forward and claimed that she and Cain had had a 13-year extramarital affair, which Cain has denied.

Cain said this week that he planned to discuss the fate of his campaign with his wife following the most recent allegation, saying he was concerned about the toll the claims were taking on his family, as well as the continued viability of his campaign.

Cain has since slipped back in the polls, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has emerged as the latest challenger to Romney for the front-runner position.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop ... irs-future