WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Veteran political adviser Ed Rollins said Herman Cain and Rick Perry can't evade the media and win the Republican U.S. presidential nomination.
Rollins said allegations of sexual harassment against Cain and Perry's seemingly mediocre history as a speaker and debater can't be ignored because of the press corps' role in society.
"My sense is the media is a very important part of this process," Rollins said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "It's the eyes of the American public. And you may not always like what they do or what you do, but at the end of the day you have got to deal with it, otherwise you lock yourself in a closet and do nothing but commercials on television.
"That's not a successful strategy."
Ed Gillespie, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, told CBS he was not quite so concerned about Cain's response to the harassment scandal. "He is an unconventional candidate but it's an unconventional year," he said. "His response has been unconventional, but … you're not seeing yet is as much damage as you would expect in other years or with other campaigns."
