It was a long Monday for Herman Cain, as he sternly denied old allegations of sexual harassment from his time as head of the National Restaurant Association, though he offered some slightly different answers as the day wore on.

But even with all of the attention and the high stakes involved, it wasn't clear whether there was any long lasting damage to his bid for the White House.

"I would be delighted to clear the air," Cain said with his familiar big smile as he took the first direct question about the story from Politico during an event at the National Press Club.

Through the day, Cain repeatedly said he was never guilty of any improper behavior involving women that he worked with.

"I have never sexually harassed anyone," Cain said.

Cain told an overflow crowd at the Press Club that he had no knowledge of any financial agreement being offered to one or both of the women who alleged harassment.

"As for as a settlement, I am unaware of any sort of settlement," Cain added.

But later in the day, that story changed, as he told Fox News about talks with company lawyers about the case.

“My general counsel said this started out where she and her lawyer were demanding a huge financial settlement," Cain told Greta Van Susteren, adding that he did not remember how much money was involved.

"I do remember my general counsel saying we didn’t pay all of the money they demanded," said Cain.

But while Cain's at times shifting answers on some details caused a bit of hand wringing in Republican circles, it didn't seem that his White House bid was about to go off the political cliff - at least not now.

On the internet, many Cain supporters rallied to his cause, denouncing the report from Politico and reporters who wrote about the story.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, just lack of objectivity," said one of my Twitter followers,

"I always respected you as unbiased," said another.

Others saw it differently.

"Drip, drip, drip," said one.

While it wasn't the greatest P.R. day ever for Cain in Washington, D.C. on Monday, it wasn't a political disaster as some had predicted when Politico broke its story on Sunday night.

What's next? It all depends on whether more information comes out on this story. If not, it could conceivably run its course and fade away fairly soon.