Team Cain plots a path to the nomination:
Mark Block and Linda Hansen, Herman Cain’s senior advisers, tell National Review Online that Cain will soon hold a series of “major town-hall meetings” in early primary states.
They predict that packing school auditoriums and conference halls with supporters will enable Cain to leap ahead of his competitors, generating buzz and enthusing grassroots activists.
“It’s a combination of a retail strategy and a wholesale strategy,” Block says.
For months, Cain’s operation in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina has been hustling, but the number of paid staffers has been limited. Now, having raised more than $5 million since the beginning of October, the campaign is stepping up, Block says, hiring experienced strategists, opening more offices, and organizing bus tours.
And the money keeps coming. The campaign has averaged $1.2 million per week since October 1, and over 80 percent of the $5 million raised has come in the form of online donations.
Yet it’s the town halls that excite Block and Hansen the most.
The campaign is in the race for the long haul, Block insists, even though there is a long, drawn-out primary season that stretches into the spring. “We’re making a real play for everywhere,” he says. “We’re not going to concede a state.” More here.