For the rest of his
talk, Cain steered clear of even hinting at the *Politico *story. Then came the question-and-answer session. Cain, with a thin grin, declared that he would “be delighted to clear the air” when the moderator mentioned the flap. “We are not going to chase anonymous sources, when there is no basis for the accusation,” he said, blasting the “witch hunt.”
“I have never sexually harassed anyone,” he added.
We thought he was finished. Cain, without raising an
eyebrow, had answered questions. The Q-and-A was over. But the moderator had one last query: He asked Cain, a longtime Gospel singer, for a tune. Cain paused briefly, mulling, then shuffled back to the podium
The audience loved it — even the journalists, many of whom couldn’t hide smiles. Cain is under fire, to be sure, and
song is by no means a political strategy. But Block, sitting a step away, didn’t intervene; he sat back and looked on. And Cain, his hands gripping the podium, burst into a few verses of one of his favorites — “He Looked Beyond My Faults.”
“Amazing Grace will always be my song of praise,” Cain sang, his rich baritone filling the room. “I do not know just why He came to love me so. He looked beyond my faults and saw my need.”
After a few more bars, he finished, dipped his head as the cheers rang, then pumped his fist in the air. More media
hits, with Fox News and others, awaited. But on the toughest afternoon of his presidential journey, Cain left the event a fighter — and a singer, belting grace under fire.
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