Millions of you (well, four of you) have written to inform me that Herman Cain's appearance with David Letterman is scheduled not for this Friday but for next Friday, November 18. This raises questions. Letterman usually tapes two shows on Monday, one to air the following Friday. In fact, as John Carney writes to me in an e-mail…
This Friday's show, I'm guessing, has already been taped (which is their usual practice for Friday shows). In fact, they've had a running gag about Steve Martin comically over-promoting his appearance; he made a walk-on Monday to promote that he would be on the show Friday (presumably, both episodes were taped Monday), and then last night there was a pre-taped bit where he appeared as an on-screen bug to promote the Friday show.
So are they planning to have Cain come in next Monday and tape an appearance for the following Friday? That would seem foolish on Cain's part and also on Letterman's. The way this story is evolving, there could be eight more accusers and all sorts of developments between Monday and Friday. The questions Dave would ask on Monday might not be the questions he'd ask on Friday. The version of the story Cain would tell on Monday might not be the way he'll want to spin things by the end of the week. Hell, the way things are going, he could drop out of the race between Monday and Friday.
I wonder if anyone in the Cain camp thought, "Hey…go on Letterman's show. He's admitted to having sex with his staff members. He'll be sympathetic to your position." If someone thought that, I'll bet they're wrong.