Woman claims affair with Herman Cain

WASHINGTON -- In an explosive allegation, a Georgia woman said yesterday she and Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain had a 13-year extramarital affair that lasted nearly until the former businessman announced his candidacy for the White House several months ago.

"Here we go again. I didn't do anything wrong," Cain said in a pre-emptive denial that lumped a detailed claim of a consensual affair in with earlier allegations of sexual harassment.

But the woman, Ginger White, said in an interview with Fox 5 Atlanta that over the years, Cain bought her airplane tickets so she could join him in cities such as Palm Springs, Calif., and Atlanta.

"It was fun," the 46-year-old White said. "It was something that took me away from my humdrum life at the time."

Cain's candidacy was soaring in the polls until he was hit less than a month ago with accusations that he sexually harassed several women and groped one while he was a high-ranking official at the National Restaurant Association. He has since fallen back in the public opinion surveys.

At her apartment in Dunwoody, Ga., White declined to elaborate on her statements during a brief interview with The Associated Press. "I can't make any comment on this," she said. "We're trying to be slightly sensitive."

In a written statement after the story aired, Cain's campaign said detractors were trying to "derail the Cain Train with more accusations of past events that never happened." -- AP