Frankly, it sounds as if Mr. Cain is an executive who doesn’t really care how the professional political insiders think it should be done. It’s obvious these “anonymous insiders” have never worked in business or they’d recognise the behavior.
Your point made also in the article, but NYT doesn't quite get it: "Several former workers interviewed for this article said they were directed by the campaign not to speak with reporters. (Two said they had signed nondisclosure agreements, a rare demand within political campaigns, and they had been reminded, they said, by the campaign not to speak with the news media.)"