Gloria Cain under the microscope

Gloria Cain, the wife of Herman Cain, is scheduled to make a rare public appearance in an interview with Greta Van Susteren Friday. She's kept a low, low profile since the beginning of Herman's campaign. Now she sort of has to come out, thanks to old sexual harassment claims against her husband that were dug up this week.

“My wife is one of the most unassuming, not-looking-for-the-limelight-people you’ve ever met,” Herman told the Daily Caller back in May. “And I’m going to keep it that way. I’m not going to push her out there to try to do things she doesn’t want to do. That’s not her personality.”

That's about to change. We don't know much about Gloria. But in preparation for Friday's out-in-front (and probably painful) interview, the Daily Beast has info on what some close friends say about the Cains:

“He is the big, gregarious personality. She is this tranquility of the campaign,” says Martha Zoller, a Republican candidate for Congress and longtime friend of Herman Cain’s.

“She is very supportive, but her one reservation was that she did not want to be in the spotlight,” Zoller says. “She understands that at some time that may come. Until then, he loves her so much that he’s going to protect her. They’re crazy about each other.”

Matt Carrothers, Cain’s former political director during his 2004 Senate run, described Gloria Cain as you would a favorite aunt or grandmother. “As a person, she smiles a lot. It seems like she’s always happy. She’s a joy to be around.”

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While her husband has crisscrossed the country stumping for votes, Gloria Cain has stayed close to home outside of Atlanta.  Friends says she volunteers at church, spends time with the couple’s two grown children and three grandchildren, and makes Sunday supper every week for the entire family, including the candidate, who knows what time to be there. Beyond that, “Taking care of Herman is a full-time job,” says one friend.

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Throughout their moves, the Cains remained close with the same group of friends they made in their 20s, an element of consistency in their here-we-go lives, and a reminder of where they started that “keeps Herman honest to this day,” a friend says.