Bizarre New Herman Cain Campaign Ad

[Babe_Ruth]

Five Theories About the Bizarre New Herman Cain Campaign Ad [Updated] -- Daily Intel

Is it me, or Hermain Cain's new Campaign Ad seems strange? What is the point of the smoking? Are they taking a shot at Obama? Are they targeting a certain group of potential voters and determined that a high percentage are smokers?

Thoughts?

 

[ssvs04]

All I can say is I love it! Completely politically incorrect and the liberals hate it. I hope we see more of this coming!

 

[Merc]

All I can say is I love it! Completely politically incorrect and the liberals hate it. I hope we see more of this coming!

Why is that a good reason though? Have we mentally devolved so much as a country that the pinnacle of a good campaign is now how much the 'other guys' won't like it? Seems like a really stupid standard to set.

Aside from the fact that we now have a good enough reason to call him Herman Trollface, I just don't get the ad either. I've said before that I like his bravado and his blatant disregard for some of the 'softness' in our society such as political correctness but the one thing I'm having problems with is that the ad was centered around him uniting the country. He's already hit the news a few times for his divisive rhetoric including shots at Muslims (a Republican candidate appealing to the xenophobia of its voters? No way!) and a checkered past of similar rhetoric.

Listen, he's not original. I've yet to see a candidate who doesn't get divisive in their campaigning because sadly that's how you get people to vote for you these days. If you were new to GF and were trotting through MD reading popular threads, aside from questioning why you registered yourself on this site, you'd probably think, "Man, they don't like divisive rhetoric here at all!" since we've got at least four recent threads about Obama doing this.

I wonder why Cain isn't getting this scrutiny? Because I highly doubt a country under Herman Cain would be a country united.

 

[MenInTights]

Of the 5 theories given, this makes the most sense to me:

2. The smoking scene guaranteed that the ad would become viral. The Cain campaign knew that the mainstream media would throw a hissy fit over the inclusion of cigarette in a campaign ad, and they were 100 percent correct! Look — we're talking about it right now!

Cain doesn't have the money Perry or Romney have. Doing small things like this keep the Cain buzz alive.
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I wonder why Cain isn't getting this scrutiny? Because I highly doubt a country under Herman Cain would be a country united.

I agree that Cain just doesn't get the scrutiny that others get.
Its possible this is a build them up to tear them down scenario. I don't care for Romney at all, but Romney is a machine. If he gets the nomination, its a clear sail to the White House. No drama, no nail biting finish. The debates won't matter much because he will be the clear victor. If Cain gets the nod, there will be lots of drama and the path to the White House is not near as clear as Romney. Plus nobody really knows if there's any skeletons in his closet, but there surely are none in Romney's. All of this will be good for the news cycle and I think that's why he doesn't get punched as hard as others.

 

[Merc]

I don't think Romney is as clear a shot as people think.

He's got some stains on his past and he's the type to pay off corporate favors before doing anything for the country itself.

 

[Tucker]

Smoking in a presidential campaign ad? 0% chance of being incidental. Maybe this will help to explain the puffing and the smirky smiles:

And as a lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association in DC in the 1990s, Cain was one of the tobacco industry's best friends on K Street. His group received big bucks from major cigarette manufacturers, and returned the favor by opposing things like smoking bans. When he left, meanwhile, an R.J. Reynolds lobbyist, Rob Meyne, penned an internal memo on Cain's future prospects. Noting that Cain was considering a presidential run in 2000, he wrote: "Nice to have goals, huh?"

Behind Herman Cain's Smokin' Ad: His Big Tobacco Days | Mother Jones

 

[MenInTights]

I can see someone that smokes being excited enough that their habit isn't being thrown under the bus that they would send $25 to Cain. From a fundraising standpoint, its probably a good move.

 

[ssvs04]

Quote - Why is that a good reason though? Have we mentally devolved so much as a country that the pinnacle of a good campaign is now how much the 'other guys' won't like it? Seems like a really stupid standard to set.


It's good enough for me. He knew the left would go nuts on that one and every single stupid comment from the press would come out saying he is promoting smoking and such things. I think it's brilliant and shows how petty the left is.

 

[Mirage]

I found the cigarette to be strange, just because it seems so politically incorrect for a campaign ad. Either A) He hasn't paid attention to society's stance on smoking for the past decade or so, or B) He did this to go viral as MIT pointed out.

It's edgy. It's controversial. It's getting him some major face time in the media. Probably a good movie. At first I found myself really confused by this ad though due to the cigarette.

 

[Tucker]

He knew the left would go nuts on that one and every single stupid comment from the press would come out saying he is promoting smoking and such things. I think it's brilliant and shows how petty the left is.

You think he emplaced smoking in his ad to deliberately antagonize liberals, not as a big wink to Big Lobbying?

And that liberals are petty?

Do I have that correct?

.