(Image Source: Flickr)

BY NICK ADAMS

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

The Cain Train could be coming to a screeching halt thanks to the latest accusation against the GOP candidate.  ABC affiliate KTRK has the latest.  

“In the wake of new allegations with an extra marital affair, Herman Cain has told senior staff he is reassessing whether to stay in the race.  Sources tell ABC news, he will make his decision soon.”

But this looks like a completely different Herman Cain than what you might have seen just the day before on CNN. Here’s what the presidential hopeful told Wolf Blitzer:

“If I drop out because of this kind of mess, as my grandmother would put it, then the system wins.  And one of the reasons I’m running, is to change the system.  And this is one of the aspects of it, it’s just the way it is.  But I’m not going to allow this sort of thing to cause me to drop out simply because it’s tough on me.”  

Still, Cain did say in the interview that if the race impacted his family, he would do what’s best for them. So -- is he in or out? ABC’s Senior Political Correspondent Jonathan Karl writes that there are, quote, “mixed signals” as to what Cain’s camp means with “reassessment.”

While Cain’s chief of staff says they are reassessing whether to stay in the race at all, Cain’s spokesman says...

“...the reassessment is about ‘campaign strategy’ not about whether to stay in the race.”

And with the 2012 election just under a year away, Atlanta’s WSB looks at the potential affects of Cain’s decision.

“I guess what we’ve seen in the polls in the last couple weeks is as Herman Cain has gone down, Newt Gingrich has gone up.  So you would think if Cain were to get out of the race or his support would evaporate, some of it would logically go over to Gingrich, maybe Michelle Bachmann, maybe Rick Perry.  But Gingrich seems to be the big beneficiary.”   

The National Review reports Cain will make his final decision about his campaign over the “next several days.”