Volumes will be written about the scandals surrounding Herman Cain’s campaign for President. We will reserve comment on the merits of those for another day (though voters may not). Without knowing any more about those allegations than is already public, we think voters have enough information to make a fair judgment about Cain as a presidential candidate.

We have had the pleasure of sitting down with Herman Cain several times. We have found him smart, charming and warmly engaging. He is an impressive man who has shown that he has a lot to offer his country. We disagree with many of his policy ideas, particularly his famous “9-9-9” tax plan. But we are impressed with his life story and his determination to think for himself in the midst of enormous pressure to conform to other people’s ideas of what he should believe and how he should express it.

Those qualities, however, are not enough for someone seeking the highest, most powerful public office in the world. Cain simply hasn’t prepared himself adequately for the presidency. That combined with the fact that he said yesterday he would change nothing about his handling of the allegations of the past several weeks, and his assertion of a conspiracy theory that stretches credulity, show a lack of self-awareness that should give any supporter pause.

We hope the allegations against Herman Cain prove untrue. Whatever the outcome, we suspect his wife will have him back from the campaign trail sooner rather than later.