There was a time in this country when political candidates’ fates were decided in smoke-filled rooms. Now it looks like they might be decided in smoke-filled videos.
I’m referring to the recent Internet ad for Herman Cain, who, quite surprisingly, is even in the polls with Mitt Romney as they vie to become the Republican Party’s nominee for President. The ad, which can be seen on YouTube, features Cain’s campaign manager Mark Block speaking directly into the camera and telling voters, “We can do this, we can take this country back!”
It then swiftly cuts to Block dragging on a cigarette and exhaling smoke as patriotic music swells in the background. What is up with that?
Craig Smith
Cain was asked that very question by CBS’s Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation soon after the ad debuted. This was Cain’s response: “One of the themes within this campaign is let Herman be Herman. Mark Block is a smoker and we say let Mark be Mark.”
I see. And if “Mark” is a drinker then why not show him swilling out of a can of beer? Makes about as much sense.
Scheiffer certainly had Cain on the defensive in that Sunday morning interview but the way I see it, Cain got the last laugh. After all, with more than 1.5 million on www.youtube.com and late night comedians like Letterman playing it on the TV airwaves all week, an ad which Cain couldn’t have afforded to run as a commercial on either cable or broadcast TV sure got seen by a lot of people.
You can’t buy that kind of exposure.
After all, campaign commercials usually send TV viewers fleeing to one of two places: the bathroom or the refrigerator.
Cain’s off-the-wall ad has them typing in “Herman Cain smoking video” into their search boxes. There is a reason Cain has that mischievous smile and laugh that is seen at the end of the video.
Too bad for Cain that at a time when awareness of his campaign and amusement over his ad seemed to be hitting its peak, the media’s attention quickly turned to 10-year old allegations of sexual harassment that had been made against him back when he headed the National Restaurant Association.
Perhaps this was another case of Herman being Herman? If so, Cain sure didn’t want to talk about it. In fact, he denied remembering anything at all about these incidents until suddenly he did remember something.
Cain’s evasive handling of the questions about these allegations confirmed that he is not a student of history. That’s because even if he had studied relatively recent history, such as the Watergate scandal, he would have realized that the ensuing cover-up is almost always worse than the initial transgression.
Considering the fact that in spite of these revelations Cain’s numbers in the polls have stayed about the same and he reportedly saw a surge in the amount of money he raised for his campaign, I can’t help but think that, for the most part, Republican primary voters really don’t care what he might have done 10 years ago.
Cain’s inept handling of the harassment allegations have tarnished him in the areas that are his two greatest strengths; his likeability and the perception that he’s a straight talker. His angry demeanor and response of, “Don’t even go there,” to one member of the media, who tried to question him about the incidents, gives new meaning to the phrase, “bully pulpit.”
For a guy who didn’t know that China has nuclear weapons, Cain ought to be glad that the questions aren’t tougher.
Craig Smith is a blogger and observer of the cultural scene.
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