The Golden Report

EXCLUSIVE: NEW KOTECKI VIDEO…WOMAN ALLEGES CAIN HAD AFFAIR WITH HER FOR 13 YEARS…MITT V MITT…BARNEY FRANK RETIRES…WALL STREET RISES…ANNE HATHAWAY ENGAGED

36 DAYS UNTIL IOWA

TOP STORY: New sexual allegations against Herman Cain, the one-time GOP front-runner, today. FOX 5 Atlanta reports that a woman, Ginger White, alleges that Cain had an affair with her for 13 years. In what may be a first for politics in the digital media age, Cain preempted the allegations in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this afternoon, denying them before they had even been made public.

CAIN, “I did not have an affair, and until I see and hear exactly what’s going to be, what accusations are going to be made, let’s move on. Here we go again. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

WHITE ON CAIN, “It was fun. It was something that took me away from my humdrum life at the time. And it was exciting.”

And then there is Herman Cain’s lawyer, Lin Wood who, through written statement, drew a distinction between an extra-material affair and Cain’s previous scandal, allegations of sexual harassment.

WOOD, “If any candidate wants to publicly discuss his private sex life, that is his or her life. But I don’t believe that there’s an obligation on the part of any political candidate to do so.”

AN EVENING REPORT EXCLUSIVE: Videoblogger JAMES KOTECKI has a new satirical video on Herman Cain’s Private Affair. You’re seeing it first here tonight.

BEFORE THE CAIN ALLEGATIONS BROKE, the top political story of the day was the Democratic National Committee releasing the sharpest political video yet this cycle, launching a new web site at www.mittvmitt.com and a 4-minute web video that is meant as an “opening trailer” into an attack on Mitt Romney’s character and flip-flop positions- on abortion, assault weapons, TARP, the auto bailout, economic stimulus, health care and immigration. A 30-second television ad tees it up:

ANALYSIS: This shows the DNC and the Obama Campaign are expecting that Romney will eventually be the Republican nominee and are starting their general election attacks against him now. They are also trying to encourage the type of Republican attacks against Romney that, so far, the field has been reluctant to engage in.

GALLUP and RASMUSSEN peg President Obama’s job approval rating at 44% in new polls released today, the same figure as his average for the last six months. Gallup has disapproval at 47%, Rasmussen at 54%.

STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE BARNEY FRANK

“I will not be a candidate for reelection to the House of Representatives in 2012.”

“Our politics has evolved in a way that makes it harder to get anything done at the federal level. I believe that I have been effective as a Member of Congress working inside the process to influence public policy in the ways that I think are important. But I now believe that there is more to be done trying to change things from outside than by working within”

Due to redistricting, the lines of Frank’s district are to be re-drawn to add approximately 325,000 new constituents, a factor that he said impacted his decision. Frank is the 9th Democrat to announce his retirement from the House in 2012.

WALL STREET:

• DOW up 291
• NASDAQ up 86
• S&P 500 up 34

BREAKING TONIGHT: Facebook plans a $10 billion IPO in 2012, the Wall Street Journal was first to report. From Reuters:

“Facebook’s Chief Financial Officer, David Ebersman, had discussed a public float with Silicon Valley bankers but founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had not decided on any terms and his plans could change, the Journal said.

The social network, which now claims more than 800 million members after seven years of explosive growth, has not selected bankers to manage what would be a very closely watched IPO. But it had drafted an internal prospectus and was ready at any moment to pull the IPO trigger, the Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying.

A formal S-1 filing could come before the end of the year, though nothing was decided, the newspaper added.

A Facebook representative declined to comment.”

HUFFINGTON POST: Actress Anne Hathaway is engaged to marry her longtime boyfriend, Adam Shulman…The pair, who have been dating for three years, confirmed the news through her representative, Stephen Huvane. In October, it was reported that Hathaway, 29, had moved into Shulman’s apartment in Brooklyn. Hathaway previously dated Raffaello Follieri; the relationship ended after the Italian jewelry designer pled guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and wire fraud.”

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: With 4 minutes left in the 3rd, it’s Saints 28, Giants 10.