point herman cain and michelle bachmann. this is an old time scandal. there is no sex harassment. so, he had an affair. sean: you re saying this woman on top of two weeks now hurt herman cain in polls i think it created doubt in peoples mind whether or not quote, another shoe drops. no credibility. she s a serial litigateor facing sexual harassment suits, she s unemploymented. she s, there is no credibility. the fact that they were friends and had text messages? so what? i don t think this is going to be serious. i do not think herman cane has been fatally damaged. i don t think anyone can watch those two. sean: how does michelle
sexual abuse, but allowed it to go on, has surfaced. deborah has more from syracuse. reporter: hey, you know, kyra, once officials here at syracuse university heard that tape, there really was no other choice. they had to fiere bernie fine, which they did late last night. the accuser, bobby davis, lived in the fine household for a period of time. he made the recording shortly after the alleged decade-long affair came to an end. and the tape suggests that not only did the coach s wife know about what was going on, but in fact she had a role in it. and we want to warn you that the tape is both graphic and also disturbing. i didn t know what to think. i know everything that went on with him. bernie has issues. maybe that he s not aware of, but he has issues. you trusted somebody you shouldn t have trusted. yeah. bernie is also in denial. i think that he did the things that he did, but somehow through his own mental telepathy has erased it out of his mind. go to somewhere
elder statesman? an accomplishment, not an age. do you think this is the end of the cain campaign? i will not go out on that particular limb. i will leave that for the voters who will make that decision in six weeks but i think the campaign has done a lot of self-inflicted damage to itself that makes it hard to make the case beyond the primary. that this is going to be a viable candidacy up against barack obama in what will surely be a juggernaut for 2012. he had a lot of things twirling around in his head. this clip among others is the reason that newt gingrich is rising in the polls. herman cane has not been able to bring specificity to issues. then you see someone like gingrich who has mastered pretty much every issue. delivery matters.
herman cane is in the lead with 18% and in october that number was at 25%. the number two spot is tied with mitt romney at 15% down from 21%. newt gingrich is also at 15%, up from october by 5 points. a new poll puts romney at 23% and gingrich at 19% and herman cain at 17%. they call it newt-mentum. he commented on the number this is morning at a breakfast in new hampshire. when the front-runners at 18 and the next two are tied at 15 it is a wide open race. it is a wide open race and let s bring in our panel. back with us after seconds away, michael smerconish, an msnbc contributor. let me bring you in and take a look at the numbers.
using the third person is that it s about your communication style. when you use the third person, what you are trying to do is shut down communication. it s a definitive stance. it doesn t mean there is no room for argument. if you say i believe this, that s very different than she believes this. it s a distancing you do and doesn t allow for a dialogue. it s a monologue. i m interested that this borders on narcissim. we know a number of pro athletes use this third person speak and politicians must have a healthy ego too. it s an inflated sense of self and something that keith said in his article that is true. it s about they are acting. what he is trying to do, herman cane in those moments particularly around the sexual harassment is he wants to