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Title: Cain’s Smoking Chief of Staff Defends Video Ad Post by: Coach Hank Crisp on October 25, 2011, 10:37:55 PM http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/cain-s-smoking-chief-of-staff-defends-video-ad-20111025
Quote http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhm-22Q0PuM The Herman Cain campaign is on the record: That bizarre campaign ad featuring Chief of Staff Mark Block smoking a cigarette is no joke. It’s what the campaign intended to release to the Web to promote the candidate, although it’s also noteworthy that the ad now appears neither on the candidate’s website nor on his YouTube page. In the video ad, Block is featured in a series of close-ups praising his boss, the pizza executive cum presidential candidate, and also pitching for donations to his campaign for the Republican nomination. “We’ve run a campaign like no one has ever seen,” Block says in the ad, and then backs up the point by taking a drag on a cigarette and blowing the smoke into the camera. The video then fades to a still photo of Cain against a sound background of a female vocalist singing, “I Am America.” In an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday, Block responded to questions about the ad after it exploded on Twitter and YouTube. “There was no subliminal message,” Block said. “In fact, I personally would encourage people not to smoke. It’s just that I’m a smoker. A lot of the people on the staff said ‘Just let Block be Block.’ That’s what it was all about.” |