Jenny Sanford, the ex-wife of former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, has written an op-ed in praise of Herman Cain.

The most poignant parts of the editorial (published today in The State newspaper) are when she condemns the media, calling it “over-focused… on the small, the controversial and the sensational.” (She never mentions Cain’s sexual harassment allegations directly).

“They will focus on the arrows being thrown at candidates and their proposals instead of challenging others to propose new solutions,” she writes of the media. 

She then adds that she is familiar with media focusing more on candidates’ personal conduct than policies.

“I know this story well," she writes. "A ‘fresh face’ appears on the political scene and puts forth new proposals that challenge the status quo and then is attacked viciously on his proposals and then his character. Many of these challengers don’t make it; some shouldn’t.”

Sanford’s experience here is two-fold: First, she was at the time married to Gov. Sanford, when he revealed that he was having an affair with an Argentine woman. Before that news surfaced, Sanford was considered a likely and promising candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Second, Jenny Sanford also endorsed then-Rep. Nikki Haley (who was a "fresh face" given that her opponents had been in South Carolina politics for much longer than she) in the 2010 gubernatorial election. Haley was also the subject of allegations of an affair by a South Carolina blogger. Rather than deter voters, those unsubstantiated charges seemed to help coalesce supporters around her.

"Time will tell if Herman Cain becomes the next political newcomer to be elected," Jenny Sanford adds of Cain, "and I, for one, am thankful he's in the presidential race."

The Herman Cain campaign is blaming the Rick Perry campaign for leaking the story about sexual harassment charges against him at the National Restaurant Association in the late-1990s, a charge the Perry campaign vehemently denies.

"The Perry campaign needs to apologize to Herman Cain and his family," Cain Chief of Staff Mark Block said on Fox this afternoon.

Perry campaign spokesman Ray Sullivan told NBC's Alex Moe today, "No one at our campaign was involved in this story in any way. Any claim to the contrary is patently false. The first we learned of it was when we read the story in POLITICO."

Cain earlier today in an interview with Forbes blamed a consultant who worked with him during his 2004 run for Senate in Georgia -- DC-based consultant Curt Anderson, who Perry recently hired. Anderson denies he was a source of the leak.

“I told my wife about this in 1999 and I’ve got nothing to hide,” Cain said. “When I sat down with my general campaign consultant Curt Anderson in a private room in our campaign offices in 2003 we discussed opposition research on me. It was a typical campaign conversation. I told him that there was only one case, one set of charges, one woman while I was at the National Restaurant Association. Those charges were baseless, but I thought he needed to know about them. I don’t recall anyone else being in the room when I told him.”

In response, Anderson told NBC's Carrie Dann in a statement: "I’ve known Herman Cain for about seven years. I was one of several consultants on his Senate race in 2004 and was proud to help him. I'd never heard any of these allegations until I read them in Politico, nor does anything I read in the press change my opinion that Herman is an upstanding man and a gentleman. I have great respect for Herman and his character and I would never speak ill of him, on the record or off the record. That's true today and it's not going to change."

Also today, Chris Wilson, a GOP pollster aligned with the pro-Perry Super PAC "Make Us Great Again," went on a local Oklahoma City radio show and said he witnessed inappropriate behavior on Cain's part while he was at the National Restaurant Association. Wilson was the pollster for the restaurant association, he said on the radio show.

But he told First Read he acted on his own and was not the source of any leaks.

"To be clear, and you can ask any of the reporters covering this story, I had nothing to do with leaking this in any way," he said in an email to First Read, "and I've never discussed or shared this story with any of my clients - period."

Wilson was not a source for NBC's independent reporting and confirmation of various aspects of this story. Politico first reported on the radio interview.

Wilson told KTOK that he expected the allegations to come out eventually, that they were widely known within the association, and that he personally witnessed inappropriate behavior "a couple times."

"I was actually around a couple times where this happened," Wilson said. "Anyone who was involved with the restaurant association at the time knew that this was going to come up."

He added, "My bet is the NRA ... is going to have no choice but to release her from the confidentiality agreement, because I think Herman Cain has already violated it by addressing it on the air last night."

Wilson described the woman who would like to come forward as a lower-level staffer, about two years out of college.

"This all occurred at a restaurant in Crystal City (Va.)," Wilson said. "And everybody was very aware of it. ... It was only a matter of time, because so many people were aware of what took place" and that she left and why she left. "If she does go on the air and talk about it, I think it'll be the end of his campaign."

He deferred on the specific details.

And Politico's Jonathan Martin reports tonight: "In a meeting at the Capitol Hill Club, Cain said he and his campaign had found out who was purportedly leaking word of his behavior toward female employees at the National Restaurant Association and that a report was coming out that would disprove the charges, according to the chief of staff to one of the Georgia members."

AP reports of a third woman who has come forward accusing Herman Cain of inappropriate conduct.

AP:

A third former employee says she considered filing a workplace complaint over what she considered aggressive and unwanted behavior by Herman Cain when she worked for the presidential candidate in the 1990s. She says the behavior included a private invitation to his corporate apartment. She worked for the National Restaurant Association when he was its head. She told The Associated Press that Cain made sexually suggestive remarks or gestures about the same time that two co-workers had settled separate harassment complaints against him. The employee described situations in which she said Cain told her he had confided to colleagues how attractive she was and invited her to his corporate apartment outside work. She spoke on condition of anonymity, saying she feared retaliation.

"Mr. Cain has said over the past two days at public events that we could see other baseless allegations made against him as this appalling smear campaign continues," Cain campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon tells NBC's Andrew Rafferty. "He has never acted in the way alleged by inside-the-beltway media, and his distinguished record over 40 years spent climbing the corporate ladder speaks for itself. Since his critics have not been successful in attacking his ideas, they are resorting to bitter personal attacks. Mr. Cain deserves better."

AP

Presidential hopeful Herman Cain (R), former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, has a net worth estimated between $2 million and $6 million.

Follow the money: The first in an installment of First Read reviews of candidates’ financial disclosures.

Herman Cain made between $1.2 million and $2.4 million from 2010 to August 2011, according to a review of his federal financial disclosure filing.

His net worth is between $2.8 million and $6.3 million. (Here is the full financial disclosure.)

The largest single source of his income came from Whirlpool Corp., the appliance manufacturer, where he pulled in $359,008 in the year-and-a-half reporting period. He has a financial interest in the company of between $500,000 and $1 million.

Cain was a director at Whirlpool from 2005 to April of this year. He announced his presidential bid in May. Previously, he served on the board of directors of Whirlpool from 1992 to 2003, according the filing submitted to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in August.

A significant share of Cain’s income -- between $299,000 and $1.5 million -- came from stock sales, dividends, royalties, interest, and capital gains.

At this income level, and with so much of Cain’s money wrapped up in the stock market, if his 9-9-9 plan were to go into effect, he would stand to greatly benefit. Cain’s plan would reduce the income tax rate to 9% and eliminate the capital gains and estate taxes. Under the current tax system, those at Cain’s income level pay a significantly higher share of taxes than is proposed under his plan.

Also notably, Cain, who was a motivational speaker in the 1990s and has made a career of catchy slogans, served on the board of Hallmark Cards for a decade, from 2001 until this past April. In addition to 9-9-9, when managing a Burger King, he instituted the BEAMER program to get employees to smile and be friendlier.

Other income sources include:

- $202,500 from Agco Corp., a heavy machinery company from Duluth, GA. He was a director there from 2004 to April of this year;
- $165,183 from Cox Radio in Atlanta, where he hosted a talk-radio show;
- $53,965.50 from Godfather’s Pizza
- Between $15,001 and $50,000 from Bell Research, where he was a director from 2009 through June 2011.

The rest of his income came from stocks, money market accounts, CDs, IRAs, and investment funds, including:

- Sales and dividends from Coca Cola totaling between $145,207 and $1.15 million
- Sales and dividends from Whirlpool totaling between $112,504 and $235,000
- He made between $5,001 and $15,000 from sales of 2,000 shares of a company called SonicWall Inc.
- Capital gains of between $5,001 and $15,000 of common stock from Warren Buffett’s investment firm Berkshire Hathaway. (Cain holds between a $15,001 and $50,000 stake in the company.)

Cain’s biggest financial interests are in:

- Whirlpool (between $500,002 and $1 million)
- Bell Research (between $300,002 and $550,000)
- Godfather’s Pizza (between $100,001 and $250,000)
- Agco (between $100,000 to $250,000)
- A computer wholesale company in West Palm Beach, FL, (between $100,000 to $250,000). The name is not listed on the financial disclosure.
- Supervalu Inc. (between $15,001 to $50,000)
- A 50% ownership stake in VHC Investments, a rental real estate holdings company (between $50,000 to $100,000)
- THE New Voice, a group he founded to promote his writings and speeches; THE stands for “The Hermanator Experience.” (between $50,000 to $100,000)

He has between $366,007 and $855,000 in checking accounts, money-market accounts, and CDs at Sun Trust Bank and Branch Banking.

He also has between $793,014 to $1.8 million invested with several investment funds, like Blackrock Global Allocation, Legg Mason Affiliates, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Vanguard, Wells Fargo, RBC, Alliance Bernstein, The Hartford, Delaware Investments, and Federated Investors.  

Herman Cain took no questions after speaking to the conservative group Docs4PatientCare -- despite organizers just moments before telling reporters there would be time for questions.

Cain spoke for just five minutes and right before he took the podium, an organizer told reporters there would be no questions because of time.

As reporters confronted Cain while walking from his speech to the news conference room, he said, "Let me say one thing, I'm here with these doctors and that's what I want to talk about, so don't even bother asking me all of these other questions that you all are curious about, OK? Don't even bother."

Reporters then began shouting out questions.

"What did I say?” Cain said. “Excuse me. Excuse me!"

Reporters continued to pepper him with questions as he walked and security saying, "Step back."

"What part of no don't some people understand?" Cain said.

MCLEAN, Va. -- Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain said his campaign is between the point of destruction and acceptance.

Speaking to the Consumer Electronics Association, Cain recounted the accuracy of a story relayed to him about the stages of presidential campaigns. They are: 1) ignore, 2) ridicule, 3) destroy, 4) accept.

Referencing the third step, Cain said, “Well, we got a little of that this week," referring to the controversy that has erupted following his acknowledgment of a settlement of sexual harassment complaints during his time at the National Restaurant Association.

“There are factions that are trying to destroy me personally, as well as this campaign,” Cain said.

But he remained confident that voters will lift him from stage three to four.

He focused on his campaign during the top of his speech, then talked to the group about the importance of technology.

It is Cain’s third day of appearances in the Washington, DC area. From here he addresses Docs4PatientCare, then heads to Capitol Hill this afternoon.

Republican candidates, for the most part, have not waded into the controversy surrounding Herman Cain.

Perhaps the harshest voice was Rick Santorum, who said he has been more vetted than Cain and this is the risk with an untested candidate.

"I don't know all the facts,” Santorum said on FOX, per GOP 12, before adding, “What I can say is that there's something to be said for having a candidate in the race who's been in front of the national public eye, who's gotten scrutiny. I've run five races, three state-wide races in Pennsylvania, and been under the national spotlight and had to answer all the questions on all the issues, have had my background looked at."

Newt Gingrich dismissed it.

"I don't pay attention to the junk that you find fascinating,” he said. “I work on policy."

Others tried some version of “no comment.”

Rick Perry: “As a good rule of thumb, until things go past allegations to fact, I just try to leave them alone.”

Jon Huntsman: "Well, there are always distractions in politics. You gotta work to get your message through. You gotta work hard to make sure people understand what it is you stand for. And often times you’re going to have [the] drama of politics play out in an unpredictable fashion, and it’s hard to know where that then goes. It consumes days, maybe a whole week and that does take some of the bandwidth out of the atmosphere; there's no doubt about that."

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad following a forum hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers, lining up with most in the talk-radio circuit, defended Cain.

"Iowans are pretty fair-minded people and just because someone makes an accusation, anybody that's in a high-profile position is potential to have people make these accusations,” he said. “And I think Iowans will carefully look at the real situation before jumping to conclusions. I want to just reserve judgment."

As GOP 12 points out: “Branstad was considerably more critical of Mitt Romney and Herman Cain for missing today's jobs forum in the state.”

By the way, Cain’s wife Gloria is in talks to be on FOX Friday night, the New York Times reports.

NBC's Alex Moe, Jamie Novogrod and Jo Ling Kent contributed to this report.

Despite the scrutiny, or likely because of it, Herman Cain yesterday had his best online fundraising day of his campaign, according to his campaign.

It raised roughly $300,000 in online donations, campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon told NBC News. Campaign Manager Mark Block told The Daily Caller in a taped interview on its website Cain has raised $5 million since Oct. 1, at a rate of about $1.5 million per week. 

Herman Cain continued to deny any wrongdoing related allegations made against him that he sexually harassed two women during his days as head of the National Restaurant Association, dismissing the accusations as a "witch hunt."

"I told you this bull's eye on my back has gotten bigger,” Cain said emphatically during an appearance at the National Press Club in Washington. "We have, I have no idea the source of this witch hunt -- and that’s what this is."

When asked about it at the start of the question-and-answer session, Cain said, “I would be delighted to clear the air.”

He reiterated what he said on FOX earlier: “I have never sexually harassed anyone. … I was accused of sexual harassment, falsely accused, I might add.”

He said he recused himself from the National Restaurant Association’s investigation of the accusations, saying it was handled by Human Resources and the association’s general counsel.

Cain claimed the investigation concluded that there was no wrongdoing on his part. But, he said, for him “enough said about the issue” and he would not be working with the restaurant association to release more information. (It’s not clear he could anyway because of confidentiality agreements.)

He also reiterated that despite being chief executive officer he was “unaware of a settlement that came out of that accusation.” And he joked again that he hoped the accusers didn’t get much, because, “I have never sexually harassed anyone. Those accusations are totally false.”

The National Restaurant Association today released the following statement:

“The incidents in question relate to personnel matters that allegedly took place nearly fifteen years ago. Consistent with our longstanding policy, we don’t comment on personnel issues relating to current or former employees,” said Sue Hensley, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Communications for the National Restaurant Association.

*** UPDATE *** Cain sang a few bars of a gospel song to close out his remarks.

NBC News has confirmed that one woman received a settlement from the National Restaurant Association after complaining about inappropriate sexual conduct by Herman Cain.

NBC News is not disclosing the name of the woman nor characterizing who she is.

Cain denied the allegations, saying on FOX this morning he was "falsely accused." "I have never sexually harassed anyone, anyone," he said, "and absolutely, these are false accusations."

Despite being the chief executive officer of the National Restaurant Association, he said he was unaware of any settlement with the accusers, though he didn't deny it.

"If the restaurant association did a settlement, I wasn't even aware of it," he claimed, "and I hope it wasn't for much. If there was a settlement, it was handled by some of the other officers at the restaurant association."

AP

Presidential hopeful Herman Cain (R) at the American Enterprise Institute this morning, takes a question on his 9-9-9 plan.

Herman Cain acknowledged there were allegations of sexual harassment while he headed the National Restaurant Association, declaring on FOX this morning that he was “falsely accused."

"I have never sexually harassed anyone, anyone," he said, "and absolutely, these are false accusations."

But he said he was unaware of any settlement with the accusers, though he didn't deny it.

"If the restaurant association did a settlement, I wasn't even aware of it," he claimed, "and I hope it wasn't for much. If there was a settlement, it was handled by some of the other officers at the restaurant association."

If more accusations are made, Cain said they, too, would be false.

“If there are more allegations, people will make them up,” Cain said.

He acknowledged the allegations could damage his campaign.

"Some people are going to be turned off by this cloud," he said, adding, of course, that he hopes they do not.

Asked why his family hasn't been a notable part of his campaign, particularly his wife, Cain said, "You will meet my wife publicly, in an exclusive interview we are planning and anticipating."

But, he said, "You won’t see my family out on the campaign trail. … My wife represents that calm and tranquility I look forward to when I go home."

He also noted that his children are adults with their own children.

In a separate potential scandal, the following was reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this morning:

"Herman Cain's two top campaign aides ran a private Wisconsin-based corporation that helped the GOP presidential candidate get his fledgling campaign off the ground by originally footing the bill for tens of thousands of dollars in expenses for such items as iPads, chartered flights and travel to Iowa and Las Vegas - something that might breach federal tax and campaign law, according to sources and documents.”

But Cain said he hadn't heard of it.

“I’m not aware of this report," Cain said, adding, "We are going to look into this report to see if there is any validity. … We will take a look at it. I didn’t even know about it until you brought it up on this show."

On MSNBC's "Daily Rundown," top Cain aide Mark Block told NBC's Chuck Todd that Herman Cain never sexually harassed women while at the National Restaurant Association.

"Herman Cain has never sexually harassed anybody. Period. End of story."

But Block wasn't as unequivocal when Todd asked him if any settlement was given to these women. "You contact the National Restaurant Association," he said. "I am not personally aware of any settlement."