Posted on 10/29/2011 10:00:12 AM PDT by freespirited
While Herman Cain's viral Web ad — in which chief of staff Mark Block pointedly takes a drag from a cigarette after extolling the presidential candidate's virtues — might have raised eyebrows among political strategists and heckles in Internet comment sections, the ad seems to have also raised the rate at which the insurgent campaign is bringing in fundraising dollars.
Cain has brought in nearly $2 million within the last week alone, nearly doubling his weekly returns earlier this month, his campaign told The Wall Street Journal. By contrast, Cain only brought in $2.8 million over the entire third quarter.
"Our donations online have shot up a lot since that ad,” Block told the Journal. “The money we are getting is wildly beyond our expectations."
Cain's campaign has argued that the ad was a manifestation of a nontraditional, down-to-earth style that has caught the Republican zeitgeist. The polls seem to echo that analysis, with Cain leading Mitt Romney 24 percent to 20 in a Fox News survey released earlier this week.
The candidate said earlier this week that the ad "did a great job" and represented his grassroots message.
"We have a saying in my campaign — let Herman be Herman. This is the attitude that I have when I do debates. This is the attitude I have when I do interviews: Let Herman be Herman. Mark Block is my chief of staff. And we also say, 'Let Mark be Mark,' " Cain said on Fox News. "Mark happens to be a smoker. He knows it's a bad habit, but he smokes. And so we weren't trying to send any subliminal message whatsoever. Many of us found it hilarious, because we know Mark Block."
Block said the ad enforced the idea of Cain as a "different kind of presidential candidate."
“Yes, the smoking part of that ad was controversial — and I don’t in any way condone smoking — but the message that Herman Cain is a different kind of presidential candidate is certainly resonating across the country,” Block said.
Good for you, VikingMom! I have heard it isn’t a walk in the park at all. The woman that I know... I wonder if she wouldn’t want one every day IF people around her didn’t smoke. Her adult daughter smokes... so I imagine smelling the cigarette may cause her to want one. That is just a guess but it sort of makes sense. I can only compare it to dieting... I wouldn’t want to watch someone enjoy a huge slice of cheesecake while I am having a salad. If I was by myself, perhaps the salad would suffice but not while I was watching someone truly ENJOY it.
I hear the same thing from ALL x-smokers. The “urge” never goes away.
And the one common thing ALL of them state is “if I picked up a cigarette today, I would be right back to smoking”.
Former 3 pack-a-day smoker BUMP!
Trying to “look cool” is what got me smoking. One day, my older sister said “you’re not inhaling and wasting my cigarettes. If you don’t learn to inhale, you can’t have anymore”.
Well, being that I copied my older sister in every way possible, I said “fine”. I inhaled and thought I was going to die.
She said “keep doing it, you’ll get used to it”. So I did.
Now of course I blame her, lol.....even though she has now quit for several years and I am STILL smoking!
I quit after only 8 years of smoking but those years were 12 to 20, and I smoked a lot.
I never had a craving once, except a couple of dreams where I was smoking.
It’s important to have something else to do with the hands and the mind. The physical addiction is over with very quickly.
I know that some ex-smokers try little tricks. For example, one kept a frozen pack of cigarettes in his freezer. Why? He was neurotic/worried about NOT having a pack if he wanted one. To be fair, it has been in there for years but it seemed to calm him. It does seem like a lot of folks who quit readily admit that if they took just one cigarette... they would be at a pack a day almost immediately. I’m not being flip but it reminds me of a person who went through drug recovery and won’t take any sort of pain medication... fearing it would “push” them back to old ways (?)
I was reading a fashion magazine and there was a surprising fact about snails doing it for 4 hours. Apperently they are very horny. Who would have thought?
I’ve heard the opposite, so I think it really depends on the person. Cigarette smoking is an emotional thing, if that is taken care of it’s easy to stop and not want to anymore.
Funny you mention that. The last time I quit, then started again, was because I couldn't drive without one.
I don't go to bars anymore, haven't in eons. It's the driving.
I should start saving up money now for taxis. When I have a month saved for them, is when I should quit. That was my only problem.....driving without a butt in hand.
I tried the fake water vapor "cigs"....not the same. I have to hold them w/ 3 fingers. NOT the same as my butts!
You started young... I am so happy and proud of you for quitting!
As I believe, it is a mental/emotional addiction, more than a physical one.
I used to make sure I had PLENTY of butts on hand....God forbid I would run out. But now, I started buying what I believe would be “less” than I need to get me through.
It helps me to cut down on my smoking, since I only have a certain amount and they must last me (I HATE having to run to the store just for butts....or going to the store for ANY reason!).
My 1 plus pack a day is now down to 3/4 of a pack. Still too much, but I am not mentally prepared to do it.....yet.
My personality is very extreme. I HATE the fact I’m still smoking. However, I know one day I will wake up and be so ticked off at it that I will go to my “Extreme” and be done with it.
Perhaps someday soon.
I used two thoughts to quit, together:
First was, stubborn defiance. I was angry cigarettes were stronger than me. I was determined to not let those stupid things, control my behavior. I could not deny, they were controlling me and I could not stop that.
Well, I did.
The second motive was fear. I would look at every pack when I opened it, and think, consider honestly, deliberately realize that any single one of those, could be the one, anonymous cigarette ... which kills me. And I won’t know it, until it’s too late.
There’s no way to know, which will be “the one”.
Could be the very next one...
I know it isn’t easy, NoGrayZone. Every one that I know who quit said they knew it was time and got fed up with the habit. Have you ever tried the Nicotine gum? I am wondering if replacing the gum will slowly reduce the 3/4 a pack even more? I know a lot of people say that the gum is simply replacing one habit for another but I think “whatever helps” is beneficial. IMHO.
4 hours? I’d have thrown him off after the 1st (if I was doing “it”. I’m single, therefore, not)!
My goodness, I had no idea they were so horny!
No lie. Just fact.
Perry coddles to illegal immigrants.
Deal with it.
I call BS on your BS.
“Easy to stop” is a total lie. Perhaps it depends on how long you have smoked.
I am a looooooong time smoker. It is NOT easy.
Okay, perhaps I should start focusing on the fact that they control me, and not vice-versa. I HATE being controlled.
That could very well be my first step.
I won’t go any further because it is too overwhelming. I will start to focus on that fact.
Thanks for my “first step”. =)
I keep snails in my tropical fish tanks, and I’ve seen them go at it. They are very active and energetic, believe it or not.
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