A woman who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment in the 1990s is ready for her story to come out, her attorney said Tuesday, even as the Republican presidential hopeful spent a second day trying to quell the mounting controversy and explain his conflicting recollections of the matter. 
 
 Joel P. Bennett, a lawyer representing one of two women who made the claims against Cain, said Tuesday that his client is barred from publicly relating her side because of a non-disclosure agreement she signed upon leaving the National Restaurant Association, where Cain served as president from 1996 through 1999. 
 
 Bennett is calling on the association to waive the agreement so the woman, a federal worker living in suburban Maryland, can rebut Cain’s statements this week that the allegations were false and baseless. 
 
 “It is just frustrating that Herman Cain is going around bad-mouthing the two complainants, and my client is blocked by a confidentiality agreement,” Bennett said in an interview. “The National Restaurant Association ought to release them and allow them to respond.” 
 
 Tuesday on Fox News, Cain declined to comment on whether the non-disclosure agreement should be lifted, saying he is consulting with a lawyer about the possible legal implications. In a statement, the restaurant association said that it had not been approached by Bennett but that it would “respond as appropriate.” 
 
 The disclosure Sunday by Politico that two women had accused Cain of sexual harassment and received settlements from the restaurant association sparked a political crisis for the Georgia businessman, who has risen from the bottom of the Republican presidential pack to become a front-runner for the party’s nomination. 
 
 Only Cain’s version of events has been aired publicly, and he has said that his recollections are hazy. Support for Cain has remained strong despite the controversy, his staff said, and the campaign claimed a banner fundraising day Monday. But that could change if one or both of the women speak publicly and appear credible, and Tuesday’s events made clear that pressure will remain on Cain to fully detail the incidents. 
 
 Bennett’s client is eager to share her story, the lawyer said, but according to someone familiar with her thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity, she also is wary of her name becoming public. The woman “did not create this story,” the source said, and she thinks she has been “completely swept up in this hurricane” but is discussing with her family whether to make her story public. 
 
 The woman’s claim was that the harassment occurred over months and was not an isolated comment or incident, the source said. 
 
 The New York Times reported Tuesday night that a second woman received a settlement of $35,000, or one year’s salary, after Cain made her uncomfortable working at the restaurant association, according to three people with direct knowledge of the payment. 
 
 Cain verified Monday that one allegation of sexual harassment was lodged against him during his time at the association but said he did not know of a second. He first said he had no knowledge of a settlement but later said he knew some details of the payout. In interviews, Cain attributed his inconsistent recollections to various factors, including the amount of time that had passed. 
 
 Asked whether he had violated the non-disclosure agreement by divulging details about the matter, Cain responded in the Fox interview that he had not because he did not reveal the complainant’s name. 
 
 Cain has conducted a personality-driven campaign that has eschewed traditional avenues. He has not spent much time in Iowa or other states with early voting contests, preferring to appear regularly on cable television. He has relied on his charisma and ideas to gain voters’ attention, using memorable slogans and infusing his remarks with humor. 
 
 Friends and longtime acquaintances say Cain has a gift for connecting with people, recalling names and exuding a warmth that belies his position as a successful executive. But they say it is possible that some may misconstrue his jokes and mannerisms. 
 
 “He’s professional, but he’s very friendly,” said Steve Grubbs, Cain’s Iowa chairman. “Maybe some people mis­interpret friendly. But I can tell you this: He’s not afraid to give you a slap on the back or an enthusiastic handshake. He’s a gregarious person in many ways.” 
 
 Karol Markowicz, who worked as deputy press secretary to Cain during his 2004 Senate bid and traveled throughout Georgia with him during that campaign, said that Cain was, and still is, “extremely friendly.” But that didn’t translate into more glad-handing on the campaign trail than any other politician was doing. 
 
 “I don’t remember him being a big hugger,” she said. “If he slapped people on the back, he did it to men and women.” 
 
 Even as a top executive, Cain traveled often to speak with low-level employees and see how stores were faring on the ground. He rarely hesitated to pitch in if a restaurant was swamped and often slipped well-performing employees $50 on the spot to reward their work. The result, particularly at Godfather’s Pizza, was an abiding loyalty from his top deputies that remains today. 
 
 On the campaign trail, he has an unrestrained style that some supporters like but that at times rubs people the wrong way. He drew fire, for example, for suggesting that an electric fence be erected along the southern U.S. border. He later said he was joking but, in some settings, treated the idea seriously. Cain, who is black, also has joked repeatedly about race. 
 
 Cain had dinner with about a dozen Republican senators at Bobby Van’s restaurant in downtown Washington Tuesday night. He eluded reporters on his way in and out of the two-hour huddle. 
 
 “The focus was on just issues,” Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) told reporters as he left the restaurant shortly after 10 p.m., adding that the harassment allegations did not come up while he was in the room. 
 
 Among the lawmakers present were several from key early primary states, including Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.). 
 
 The previous day, Cain spoke at the American Enterprise Institute and alluded to his edgy sense of humor. As questions about the sexual harassment allegations intensified, he suggested that his humor might foster misunderstandings. 
 
 “Yes, I am an un­conventional candidate,” he said. “And yes, I do have a sense of humor, and some people have a problem with that. But to quote my chief of staff and all of the people that I talk to around this country, ‘Herman be Herman.’ And Herman is going to stay Herman.”­­ 
 
 Staff writers Chris Cillizza, Krissah Thompson, Brady Dennis and Felicia Sonmez and staff researcher Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report. 
 
 More from PostPolitics: 
 
 Iowa Republicans play down Cain controversy 
 
 Cain says he is fundraising off of ‘smear’ 
 
 Herman Cain sings at National Press Club (video) 
 
 Women were already cool to Cain ||||| A relative unknown upon his entry into the race, Herman Cain has experienced promising numbers in both name recognition, as well as the new metric of "positive intensity." These upward trends have since propelled him to the top of many GOP primary polls. In late June, a Gallup poll showed Cain's name recognition up 25 percent from earlier in the year, to 46 percent. Meanwhile, his positive intensity score stood at 24, among the highest of any candidate in the field. Enthusiastic supporters have also helped Cain take impressive wins at a variety of early straw poll events. He's taken the top spot at the Western Conservative Summit, the Georgia GOP Straw Poll in August (Georgia is Cain's home state), and more recently in Florida and Chicago. Cain also won a February straw poll at an Arizona Tea Party event, beating Ron Paul in a vote among attendees, though at the time he was the only officially declared 2012 candidate involved. 
 
 Cain's first trip to the political spotlight was launched by what is now called a "YouTube moment," though it took place more than a decade before the website was launched. It has since been re-transformed into a YouTube clip. The highlight came in 1994 when Cain, then CEO of Godfather's Pizza, duked it out with Clinton at a town hall forum the president was holding to push his health care reform proposal. As Slate's Dave Weigel reports: Cain got a question in. He'd been a turnaround artist at Pillsbury, working with Burger King, and in 1986 he'd been put in command of the failing Godfather's Pizza franchise. He saved it with triage, closing 250 of around 800 restaurants, before leading an investor group that bought the franchise and put him in charge. By the time he met Clinton, he had been elected president of the National Restaurant Association. This explained some of his confidence as he lit into his president. "On behalf of all of those business owners that are in a situation similar to mine," asked Cain, "my question is, quite simply, if I'm forced to do this what will I tell those people whose jobs I will have to eliminate?" "Well, wait a minute," said Clinton, attempting a charm offensive. "Let's ask--let's talk a minute about what you would have to do." The employer mandate would add only 2 percent to Cain's costs, Clinton argued, and Cain could just charge more for pizza. "I'm a satisfied customer, I'd keep buying from you." "Mr. President," said Cain, "with all due respect, your calculation on what the impact would do, quite honestly, is incorrect." It didn't take long for this clip to make the rounds, which won Cain commendations from Republican icons such as Newt Gingrich, Jack Kemp and Rush Limbaugh. For more on Cain's rapid political rise, read the rest of Weigel's piece at Slate. 
 
 Cain has been making a big pitch for his "9-9-9" plan, which would eliminate some taxes such as the payroll tax and estate tax, and lower a variety of others, leaving business taxes and income taxes at a flat rate of 9 percent. It would also create a national sales tax of 9 percent. The 999 plan has been criticized as an economic blueprint that would put a bigger tax burden on the middle class. HuffPost's Amanda Terkel also reported that the simple tax structure exhibited some similarities to the default given to players in the video game, SimCity 4. Cain added an important update to his plan in October, outlining tax exemptions for poorer Americans and economically depressed areas. The Associated Press reports: After sharp criticism over his one-size-fits-all plan from Republicans and Democrats alike, Cain proposed no income taxes for Americans living at or below the poverty line. He also proposed exemptions for businesses investing in "opportunity zones" as a way to give an economic jolt to rundown neighborhoods such as the one he visited in hard-hit Detroit. 
 
 Herman Cain has repeatedly caused consternation with questionable comments about Islam and American Muslims. At a March event held in Iowa for prospective presidential candidates, Cain said outright that he wouldn't appoint any Muslims to his cabinet if elected, over fears that they would work to install Sharia law. He later attempted to walk that statement back, saying "I am not anti-Muslim. I am anti-terrorist." Months later, Cain stoked more scrutiny when he said Americans "have the right" to block mosques in their communities. The claim came in response to a question by "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace about Cain's criticism of a planned Islamic center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, which had sparked protests from residents of the town. He later held a summit with Muslim leaders to try to patch up relations with the community. AP reported at the time: Cain met with four Muslim leaders in Sterling, Va. He said in a statement later he was "truly sorry" for comments that may have "betrayed" his commitment to the Constitution and the religious freedom it guarantees. 
 
 Cain's first display of political greenness came at an inopportune time, during his campaign announcement in May. Speaking to his followers about the importance of following the Constitution, Cain seemed to refer to the Declaration of Independence. "We don't need to rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America, we need to reread the Constitution and enforce the Constitution," Cain said. "And I know that there are some people that are not going to do that, so for the benefit of those that are not going to read it because they don't want us to go by the Constitution, there's a little section in there that talks about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The Constitution, of course, doesn't reference "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Weeks later, Cain made another public blunder on Fox News Sunday, when he appeared to be confused on the concept of Palestinian "Right of Return," or the belief that Palestinians, as well as their descendants, who were forced to leave their property in Israel should be allowed to return. Israel is firmly opposed to the "Right of Return," and considering Cain had slammed President Obama earlier for his supposedly anti-Israel approach to Middle Eastern affairs, his apparent confusion on the issue didn't go unnoticed. 
 
 Cain made a big impression in Omaha in the '80s when he helped spearhead an effort to save an inner-city youth center. It eventually culminated in a series of charity gospel concerts that raised more than $5 million for a new branch. HuffPost's Andrea Stone reports: It was the late 1980s and the then-CEO of Godfather's Pizza and self-made multimillionaire brokered a deal with the YMCA of Greater Omaha to merge with the struggling Edmonson Youth Outreach Center so that its founder could get health insurance. Joe Edmonson was a beloved wrestling coach in the community who, despite being a quadriplegic, inspired a generation of underprivileged black youth. Cain had joined the board of the sports and after-school program in predominantly-black north Omaha after a young wrestler whose mother worked as a janitor at Godfather's headquarters approached him to help sponsor a team trip to a national tournament. So when the local YMCA approached Cain, one of Omaha's most prominent African American business leaders, for help to raise funds for a new neighborhood branch, he agreed. But only if the Y merged with the Edmonson Center. But the object of Cain's charitable affection may have changed of late, Stone notes: In recent years, Cain has written more checks to political causes and candidates than to charity. But the former businessman and conservative radio talk show host had chosen in years past to focus his philanthropy on education for inner-city youth so, he has said, they can overcome poverty and racial discrimination the way he did. Cain has also donated large sums to The University of Nebraska at Omaha, Morehouse College and Antioch Baptist Church. For more on the giving habits of other GOP presidential candidates, click here. 
 
 Cain has sought to capitalize off of his supposed political outsider status, but a recent report suggested that the one-time pizza mogul may be deeply involved with some of the powerful, moneyed influencers in Washington politics --particularly the Koch brothers. From the Associated Press : Cain's campaign manager and a number of aides have worked for Americans for Prosperity, or AFP, the advocacy group founded with support from billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, which lobbies for lower taxes and less government regulation and spending. Cain credits a businessman who served on an AFP advisory board with helping devise his "9-9-9" plan to rewrite the nation's tax code. And his years of speaking at AFP events have given the businessman and radio host a network of loyal grassroots fans. Read the rest of the report here.
– Exactly the news Herman Cain didn't want to hear today: One of the two women who accused him of sexual harassment wants to go public, reports the Washington Post. The woman wants the National Restaurant Association to release her from a confidentiality agreement that was part of her settlement, says her attorney. (Cain characterizes the settlement as a mere severance agreement, but the lawyer disagrees.) “It is just frustrating that Herman Cain is going around bad-mouthing the two complainants, and my client is blocked by a confidentiality agreement," he says. "The National Restaurant Association ought to release them and allow them to respond." Cain denies the allegations as a "smear campaign." The Huffington Post rounds up his "evolving responses" on the issue—see the video here—since Politico broke the story.