A political action committee supporting Herman Cain is set to launch a new television ad in early-voting states arguing that allegations of sexual impropriety by the candidate are not true.
The ad cites TJ Ward, a private investigator who analyzed Cain's statement denying knowledge of sexually harassing Sharon Bialek, a former employee of the National Restaurant Association, with lie detection software. The software, which examines vocal patterns for signs of stress, indicated that Cain was a "low risk" for having lied, while Bialek was a "high risk."
The ad refers to Ward as "one of the foremost lie detector experts in America" and plays a clip from Atlanta local news in which Ward claims "he is being truthful, but the allegations saying she was sexually assaulted by him did not occur."
The commercial then encourages voters — "now that you know the truth" — to focus on the issues and consider voting for Cain. It goes on to praise Cain's leadership abilities and say that he can beat President Obama in a general election campaign.
Jordan Gehrke, a spokesman for Americans for Herman Cain, the PAC responsible for the ad, told CNN that the commercial would begin airing either Wednesday or Thursday in Iowa and Minnesota. He said the group planned to spend "just under" $100,000 on the buy.
The ad does not address recent allegations that Cain carried out a 13-year extramarital affair with Atlanta businesswoman Ginger White. The accusations of sexual impropriety, coupled with a number of foreign policy gaffes have bruised Cain's once-leading poll numbers.
Political action committees and campaigns are not allowed to coordinate on election activities, so the Cain campaign did not approve or give input on the spot, though the Cain campaign plans to release its own television ad in Iowa on Friday.
The television floodgates have opened in the Hawkeye State a month before the caucus, with Rick Perry and Mitt Romney also purchasing time this week.
