Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has been chided for being disengaged from his political campaign, for lacking a legitimate staff and campaign message, and for seemingly running only to sell his book and not to actually become the President of the United States.
Well this week, Herman Cain (attempted to) put his critics to rest with a new television commercial that has certainly created a buzz. In the ad, Cain presents a personal message from his campaign manager, who ends the ad by puffing on a cigarette. HUH???
In an era where smoking is being pushed to the back burner, and at a time when Cain is making public knowledge of his successful battle with cancer, it’s an odd choice for an ad that is meant to truly introduce a still unknown Herman Cain to the general voting public.
Late night comedians have since had a field day with the ad, with David Letterman even creating his own ad that ended with an obese man eating a large bowl of spaghetti. And the Washington Post said the bizarre ad is “so wrong, it’s right.”
Is the Herman Cain camp really that stupid and detached to release perhaps one of the worst campaign ads in election history? Or could it be they are brilliant to have now caused every news program and newspaper to show the awful ad for free, thereby providing their candidate with some much needed publicity his campaign never would have been able to afford on its own?
What do you think?
On the face of it, this ad…or rather Youtube infomercial…is ridicules.BUT. Who can argue that THEY (Cain and his campaign manager) don't know how to PLAY the political media?As DJ pointed out: Just LOOK at ALL the FREE press that "ad" has generated. I'd say it was a "brilliant" move.Add to that: The GOP "base" LOVES what Cain stands for…a kind of "IN YOUR FACE" contrarian attitude towards the GOP "establishment" and "old-school, conventional-thinking" punditocracy.Dave Weigel over at Slate notes that Cain is "exposing the fact that old-school organizing just isn't as relevant or important as it used to be in today's media world.”Heck. Cain is getting his message out playing by HIS OWN rules; making it up as he goes along. And as I already said..his supporters LOVE IT. Can Perry mount any real sort of "come-back" to pose a challenge to Mitt for the nomination(?) Well, anything CAN happen between now and Jan. 3, 2012 (Iowa) to improve Perry's chances. But judging by what I've been reading on several major right-wing blogsites, the consensus… Read more »