After Libya gaffe, Cain misses editorial board meeting

Updated 1:53 p.m. Eastern Time

After he struggled mightily to address a basic foreign policy question on Libyaposed by a newspaper editorial board in Milwaukee this week, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain abruptly canceled a similar forum with editors at the New Hampshire Union Leader scheduled for Thursday, according to the Union Leader.

The newspaper reported on its website that the interview was set up last week and was to have lasted a little over an hour. The Cain campaign at first insisted the session not be taped by the public affairs network C-SPAN, and then canceled the meeting entirely. The network had videotaped the newspaper's recent interviews with three other major presidential candidates.

The Georgia businessman's stumble during the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's editorial board meeting was also taped, and the video of Cain trying to explain where he stood on President Obama's policy in Libya went viral.

About 45 minutes after the 10 a.m. session with the New Hampshire newspaper was to begin, Union Leader Senior Political Reporter John DiStaso received a brief telephone message from Cain's New Hampshire spokesman saying the candidate would be unable to attend, the newspaper said. No matter, said Publisher Joseph McQuaid, "It's politics and campaigns. I don't think he's going anywhere from here at this point, anyway."

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon claimed that the newspaper canceled the session.

"We had been in discussion on the length and format of the interview since Monday," he said. "Yesterday the campaign agreed on 20 minutes, (not) the 45 minutes requested. We are looking to reschedule the next time we visit."

Asked about the incident, Cain said, "You're not going to believe it - they cancelled. They cancelled!"