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They may seem all but forgotten, but there are still seven other presidential candidates trying to get voters to pay attention to them while Herman Cain does inexplicable things on television. These are there stories. They really, really don't want to talk about Cain, trying to acknowledge the controversy without indicating whether they believe the sexual harassment allegations. Mitt Romney called them "disturbing," Rick Santorum called them "troubling," Gingrich and Huntsman told Cain to answer the questions, and Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry refused to give any advice.
Mitt Romney Trying to Stay Moderate
Ahead of the ninth Republican primary debate in Detroit on Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee is attacking Romney for saying back in 2008 that the Big Three automakers shouldn't be bailed out, Politico's Alexander Burns reports. The DNC says, "What was Mitt Romney's plan for Michigan's automobile industry? 'Let Detroit go bankrupt.'" But Romney's defending his position, telling Fox News Tuesday, "I was frankly right. They had to go through managed bankruptcy ... They finally went through bankruptcy."
The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza says Romney's made some other calls more recently that he's going to have a harder time defending. On the two most controversial state ballot measures voted on last night -- a anti-abortion rule in Mississippi and an anti-union bill in Ohio -- Romney tried to avoid taking a stand on them till the last minute. He picked the losing side both times. The losing side happened to be the conservative side, and Lizza writes that his handling of these "hot-button Election Day issues suggests some bloody weeks ahead. He must still deal with a cast of rather extreme conservative opponents who are unlikely to quit the race ... [who'll] continue to challenge Romney from the right, testing his ability to maintain the aura of a moderate Republican."