October 19, 2011 4:17 PM

Herman Cain supporters launch a super PAC

By
Stephanie Condon
Topics
Campaign 2012

In yet another sign of the momentum behind Herman Cain's presidential campaign, the Republican businessman has a new super PAC backing him.

The independent group Americans for Herman Cain launched Tuesday night ahead of the Republican debate, Politico reports, with a fundraising solicitation sent to an email list of Tea Party supporters.

"It's our job to propel him to victory in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan and Arizona," the email said, promising the super PAC would fund "everything from TV ads, voter mail, advocacy phones identifying Herman's supporters, to get out the vote programs."

Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of cash on a candidate, though they're not allowed to coordinate with a campaign directly. The main advantage of a super PAC is its ability to collect large checks from wealthy donors (who are limited to giving $2,500 directly to a candidate in an election), but Jordan Gehrke, the campaign director for Americans for Herman Cain, told Politico this super PAC will focus the small donors who propelled Tea Party candidates in 2010. Gehrke last year worked on the unsuccessful campaign for Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle.

"Herman Cain is surging but he needs your help," the super PAC's website says. "Herman's opponents are raising tens of millions of dollars from their big money networks. Herman has you!"

The group has released its first web ad, which calls Cain "a real choice."

"What if we had a nominee who was a really conservative?" the ad asks, next to a picture of 2008 GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain. Taking a jab at former presidential candidate and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, it asks, "A nominee who believes in traditional values?"

Returning to the 2012 contest with a picture of Mitt Romney, it continues, "A nominee who wasn't the father of ObamaCare?" Finally, showing a picture of Rick Perry, "A nominee who could actually win a debate with Obama?"

Cain has risen in the polls in recent days; the latest NBC/ Marist poll shows him leading among GOP voters in South Carolina and essentially tied with Romney in Florida. A Pew survey shows that Cain has successfully kept the focus of his campaign on his 9-9-9 tax plan -- it's the first phrase people associated with the candidate -- but that has made his plan the subject of his GOP rivals' criticism.


  • Stephanie Condon

    Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.

Add a Comment See all 32 Comments
by David_Chowes October 20, 2011 5:20 PM EDT
The GOP will never raise Cain for the presidential nomination because he lacks the knowledge and sophistication to assume the presidency of the U. S.

He played his role as a black candidate -- but, was so charming and funey and silly... They never thought hw ould attract the large
following he has.

Nein, nein, nein!
Reply to this comment
by Progress4USA October 20, 2011 10:52 AM EDT
"PAC" in Herman Caine's world means Pizza Assembly Company...
Reply to this comment
by Sloughfoot October 20, 2011 10:42 AM EDT
Be leery of any man who is the lap dog of two corporate billionaires and a man who implies that you are poor because you want to be. This 999 is nether fair nor will it be the cure-all he professes. First there is no way you can ever get a tax code written where the wealthy do not get the greatest tax breaks. It has become all too evident that corporate dollars control most every vote in congress.
Reply to this comment
by Anotheryahoo October 20, 2011 8:53 AM EDT
Government is a tax and it appears to be steam rolling ahead with no one to call it what it is. A huge Business at the expense of all the American People policing us and the entire world. We can protect Afghanistan's border but not our Own? We can Borrow Billions from China and then just hand it over to countrys all over the world at taxpayer expense? Only Ron Paul is calling it what it is. We need to bring back real Freedom and real Liberty.
Reply to this comment
by Progress4USA October 20, 2011 9:20 AM EDT
Thank you for supporting gay marriage! Real Freedom and real Liberty for all!
by GOPeconomicterror October 20, 2011 6:38 AM EDT
So let's get this straight: under 9-9-9, average and poor Americans would pay more, while the rich would have their taxes cut. Andrew Fieldhouse, a budget policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, boiled it down this way: the 9-9-9 plan "only makes sense if you believe that the problem with the current tax code is that low- and middle-income households have it way too good, and they should give more of their income to those poor Americans making more than half a million dollars a year."


Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has cast himself as the outsider, the pizza magnate with real-world experience who will bring fresh ideas to the nation's capital. But Cain's economic ideas, support and organization have close ties to two billionaire brothers who bankroll right-leaning causes through their group Americans for Prosperity.
Cain's campaign manager and a number of aides have worked for Americans for Prosperity, or AFP, the advocacy group founded with support from billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, which lobbies for lower taxes and less government regulation and spending. Cain credits a businessman who served on an AFP advisory board with helping devise his "9-9-9" plan to rewrite the nation's tax code. And his years of speaking at AFP events have given the businessman and radio host a network of loyal grassroots fans.
Reply to this comment
by karek40 October 20, 2011 9:09 AM EDT
I would expect the rich to point out the poor will pay more, right now 47% of the people pay no taxes. Do you suppose a rich person spends more than a poor, hmmm, perhaps the rich will have to pay 9% sales tax on all he spends. Do you suppose the rich receive more dividends than the poor, perhaps the 9% corporate tax will reduce those dividends. Our tax system is grossly unfair, too complex and convoluted such that no one really understands it. Mr. Cain is the only one proposing a solution. The rest of them simply skim the issue. His plan may require adjustment to be really fair but what we have sucks.
by mowthpeece October 20, 2011 12:04 AM EDT
He wins ONE straw poll in a state where the delegates were angry at the other candidates for blowing them off, then he goes to Israel and bows to his real bosses, and he's somehow all of a sudden a top tier candidate?

Even you Cain followers have to admit this is just a little bit bizarre, and frankly, undeserving. His plan is a joke. It was taken from the 2003 version of SimCity. It would charge a national sales tax on top of already existing state and local sales taxes, it would cause a rise in taxes for 84% of the population.

The only think that propelled Cain to where he is, is his Israeli kneepads. He's as dirty an insider as any of the others, with the SINGLE EXCEPTION OF RON PAUL. The ONLY one not bought and paid for by the corporations or the Zionist war machine.

I have nothing against Israel or any other country, but it has no business what-so-ever deciding who our presidents should be. Their influence is getting very, very old. Only 12% of American Jews consider our relationship to Israel in their presidential voting decision. How the right wing pseudo-Christians became their patsies is a mystery to me. But it needs to stop, because this country is BROKE. We cannot afford to keep fighting wars for another country's benefit.

Vote RON PAUL for a chance to get our country back on track.
Reply to this comment
by tnes31 October 19, 2011 10:16 PM EDT
if you are interested in seeing how the 9-9-9 plan effects your family...check out...nerds4cain.com. Good info and calculators. Go Herman Cain...a true leader with bold, common sense ideas.
Reply to this comment
by karek40 October 20, 2011 9:11 AM EDT
Finally someone who investigates rather than accept what the rich media outlets are lying about.
by atomant59 October 19, 2011 9:27 PM EDT
You mean the Kock brothers, right????
Reply to this comment
by VoteLiberty2012 October 19, 2011 8:37 PM EDT
Cain is starting to crash and burn.
Today Stephen Moore who helped Cain draft his 9-9-9 tax plan is now saying the 9 percent sales tax was a mistake.
Cain's performance in the debate was horrible. He simply could not defend 9-9-9.

Ron Paul is the only candidate with a real plan to cut spending. It is what we have been asking for forever. Somebody to cut real spending.
Reply to this comment
by karek40 October 20, 2011 9:12 AM EDT
Wouldn't it be wonderful if some of the other candidates who have a chance supported even one of his positions.
by doneinone October 20, 2011 10:37 AM EDT
Art Laffer Ronald Reagans chief economic advisor endorses 9-9-9 and says it would be a huge boon to the U.S economy.
by gep1955 October 19, 2011 7:20 PM EDT
If you like corporate bail outs, multi-trillion dollar spending,(we are all currently on the hook for $47k) raising taxes on all who earn, croney capitalism supporting campaign donors, communist/marxist radicals making policy without congressional approval and divisive rhetoric pitting Americans against each other, vote for Obama. If you hate all this crap, vote for Cain. The only REAL conservative in the bunch.
Reply to this comment
by taylorsucram October 19, 2011 8:37 PM EDT
YOU NEED HELP, You've confused President Obama with G.W. Bush. Remember Cheney was CEO of Halliburton before he became Vice-President and suddenly Halliburton got all of those NO-BID CONTRACTS. All this while they continued to pay Cheney "deferred compensation" (WE USED TO CALL THEM BRIBES) while he was in office. Further you seem to have forgotten the Billions of Dollars that suddenly "disappeared" at the Baghdad Airport while Paul Brenner "made like a thief" and left in the dead of night. It's people like you that KNOW YOU'RE NOT ABOUT TO VOTE FOR CAIN OR ANY BLACK MAN FOR PRESIDENT. Nor will most of your Republican cohorts, yet you "wave that flag" trying to appear civilized.
by doneinone October 20, 2011 12:41 AM EDT
ok I think I will vote for him.....thanks for the info
See all 32 Comments
.

Follow Political Hotsheet

Scroll Left
Scroll Right More »
CBS News on Facebook
  • CBS News Mobile

  • CBS News for Android

    The CBS News app for Android smartphones offers breaking headlines and video as well as the latest from The Early Show, 60 Minutes and more.
    Learn more...