There is only one standard by which a mid-scandal press conference succeeds or fails. That is whether reporters (plus political opponents) leave the conference with more leads, loose ends, and unanswered questions than they had when they walked in, or fewer.

By that standard, Cain's event (right, Reuters photo) was a disastrous failure, in that any assignment editor, reporter, or reasoning person has more to wonder about after the conference than any of them did when it began.

For instance:

- What is this "Democrat machine" that Cain says was orchestrating the attack on him?

- Why would a "Democrat machine" be working against him now, given that (as James Carville, Donna Brazile, and others instantly pointed out) Cain would be the Democrats' dream GOP nominee? Why wouldn't Democrats save their ammo for the general election campaign?

- How can Cain say, flat out, that he saw Sharon Bialek "for the first time" at her press conference yesterday, if a photo witness apparently exists of him seeing her at a Tea Party rally recently? [The newspaper picture is of the witness who says she saw Cain talking with Bialek at a Tea Party rally in Chicago.]

- If he's willing to take a lie detector test in "proper" circumstances, what would those be?