The Herman Cain crazy train just keeps chugging along. After his disastrous comment on abortion a few days back (which made me suspect he thinks he can just apply the phrase “it’s none of the government’s business” any time he gets confused and doesn’t know what to say), was
He'll Put the United Back in United States!
overshadowed by Rick Perry’s insane birther ramblings and even more insane defense of those ramblings ( Well, heck, I know it’s not true, I just think we should keep saying it because it’s funny, har, har), Cain needed to throw some more chips into the crazy pot just to stay in the game, so he produced this little gem.
Now, the text is nothing original. Pretty standard average guy talking about how much he likes Herman Cain. Except for the fact that he’s Herman Cain’s campaign manager, or something like that. Really, that’s pretty lame. You can go one of two ways with testimonial ads. Either get a variety of people who really do look like average folks: An old woman, a young Hispanic man, a child, a cute old couple where she’s talking a mile a minute and he’s just nodding resignedly. Let them say lots of nice things about the candidate. Or get some major public figure who everybody respects and have them sing the candidate’s praises. But your campaign manager? Come on, Pizza Man.
Then comes the really weird part. After he’s finished speaking, when the music comes up real dramatic like, old campaign manager Mark Block takes a big, old drag off his cigarette, like he thinks he’s Robert Mitchum or somebody. For no apparent reason whatsoever.
There is always a reason. Mike Gravel throwing a rock into the lake was symbolic of something. Even when that obscure Republican candidate (Johnson? Huntsman?) did the weird ads about the guy on the motorcycle, at least it was interesting desert scenery.
What is Cain trying to say here? That all Americans should start smoking again? Is smoking a new metaphor for freedom? Does Mark Block think he is the urban, middle aged Marlboro Man?
My suspicion is this. It’s a setup. If liberals, like myself, respond to this ad with a big WTF?, which is pretty much the only response, it allows the Cain clan to respond “Well, Barry smokes!” First off, I’m not sure he does, and secondly, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just a really stupid thing to put into your campaign advert. Looks dorky.
The comforting thing is this is really the best line of attack the Republicans have. Besides the teleprompter, Dijon and birth certificate issues, of course.
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