In addition to the previously reported (by Politico's Maggie Haberman) $999-a-head Herman Cain fundraiser in New York City on November 11, 2011 (11/11/11!), the Republican presidential candidate is having a higher-dollar event that evening, according to an invitation to the event obtained by FutureOfCapitalism.com. Minimum contribution is $1000, with a $2,500 contribution getting donors "Cain Club" status and $5,000 ($2,500 for the primary, $2,500 for the general) making a donor a "sustaining member." The event is at Club 101 on Park Avenue.
The host of this event is Ziad Abdelnour. I've known and covered Mr. Abdelnour for years in connection with his activities as founder and president of the United States Committee for a Free Lebanon. More recently, I've known him as president and CEO of Blackhawk Partners and as the author of the forthcoming book Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics, a passionate and provocative volume that is generally pro-market and pro-capitalism while being highly critical of some of the big banks and the regulators and government officials.
In a brief telephone interview this morning, Mr. Abdelnour told me he hopes to have 50 or 60 people at the event and to raise close to $100,000. He said he had not spoken with Mr. Cain about the Middle East but mostly about finance, growth, and wealth-creation. In an email to me, Mr. Abdelnour said that he was holding the event because Mr. Cain had stepped up and written a Foreword to the Economic Warfare book, and also because "He is the most straightforward businessman and wealth creator out there... The rest are all politicians" and "He is Obama's worst nightmare hence all of them trying to discredit him."
