TPM2012

Spotted: Ben Nelson Applauding Herman Cain’s ‘Imagine There’s No Pizza’

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE)

Here’s a fun detail from Herman Cain’s instant classic, “Imagine There’s No Pizza,” the video from 1991 unearthed on Monday. At the end of the performance, it looks like a certain Blue Dog Democrat is giving Cain a rousing round of applause.

The video quality is not great, but Sen. Ben Nelson’s press secretary, Ron Eckstein, told TPM it “certainly looks like then-Governor Nelson” in the audience. We thought so, too.

The Omaha World-Herald first posted the video, and it has inspired a number of clever Twitter punch lines. The video was apparently taped in 1991— when Nelson was governor — at the Omaha Press Club show, an annual event. No word if Nelson and Cain shared a slice after the show.

Cain has enjoyed a recent surge in the polls, and with it, increased media scrutiny. Nelson’s office had “no comment on Herman Cain as a musician, as a businessman or as a politician.”

Watch the full clip (Nelson sighting at the 7:40 mark):

h/t to TPM alumn Eric Lach

David Taintor

David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com

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