Herman Cain: Brought to you by Koch Industries

Herman Cain's meteoric rise to Republican frontrunner has been written about to death.  He performed well in the 1st Republican Debate, fell to the wayside for a while as our attention was diverted to Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, but he's had a strong resurgence since last month, and continues to dominate the headlines.  His 'outsider' status, 'straight talk' style, private sector experience, and his "9-9-9" tax plan have given the media and the public a lot to look at.  However, some media outlets have begun to look at how Herman Cain's actual campaign is working.  What has been discovered is kind of scary.

Almost everything that is the Herman Cain campaign has been funded by one source - a Political Action Committee called 'Americans For Prosperity.'  Americans For Prosperity is the brain child of Charles and David Koch, the owners of Koch Industries, which is the largest privately held company in the United States.  Together, the Koch brothers are worth approximately $50 Billion.  David Koch was the Vice Presidential Nominee for the Libertarian Party in 1980.  Together, they have used Americans For Prosperity to funnel money towards ultra conservative Republican causes and have pledged to steer over $200 Million to the 2012 election.

And it's not just the money that Americans For Prosperity is providing the Cain campaign.  The campaign manager and nearly all senior staffers are former Americans For Prosperity employees, or former executives for Koch Industries.  It appears as if Herman Cain is a Corporate-Sponsored candidate, sponsored in a much larger way than ever before.

The Associated Press and MSNBC have done some extensive reporting on this issue.  I personally find the idea that two VERY rich guys are essentially fielding their own hand-picked candidate absolutely frightening!  It kind of has a Manchurian Candidate feel to it - not something I would like to see.  After reading AP's report, I dug around for more information about Cain's campaign.  The New York Times asked RNC operatives in South Carolina, where the 3rd Primary is held, if there was much of a Cain presence in the state.  No one could apparently point out any Cain staffers working in the state, despite the fact that Cain has been running ads there - there is no campaign office or point person from the campaign to talk to.  Everything is probably being funneled through Americans For Prosperity.  

I've included links for the AP story and to MSNBC for video on the subject.  Note, the MSNBC video doesn't get to Herman Cain until about 5 minutes in.  I highly recommend looking at both - rich people and corporations have always had an unfair influence on our politicians.  However, since the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, that influence appears to now be limitless.

AP Report: Herman Cain's deep ties to Koch brothers key to campaign

MSNBC: Koch brothers' pop-up candidate