Cain's 'Smoking Man' Sparks Hefty Donations and Parody

Quirky ad credited with $5M campaign surge

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The strangest thing about GOP candidate Herman Cain's recent "smoking man" ad? It seems to be working. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cain's ad, featuring mustachioed campaign manager Mark Block, is credited with a massive surge of donations for the candidate. “Our donations online have shot up a lot since that ad,” Block told the WSJ, which tallies the campaign's October fundraising at $5 million. "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.”

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