Florida Senate hopeful to endorse Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan

By Josh Lederman - 01/12/12 06:29 AM ET

When former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO and Florida Senate candidate Craig Miller (R) announced that he and Herman Cain would be making a joint "major announcement," Florida politicos immediately speculated that Cain would be endorsing Miller's Senate bid.

As it turns out, it's just the opposite.

When the two men appear together in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday, Miller will pledge his support for Cain's now-legendary 9-9-9 tax plan, a Cain aide told The Hill.

"He is the first U.S. office-seeking candidate to sign on to commit to Mr. Cain's 9-9-9 plan," the aide said.

The move is part of a push by Cain — in the wake of his presidential campaign, which ended amid a flurry of allegations of sexual harassment — to keep alive his trademark plan for 9 percent corporate, sales and income tax rates.

At first, it might seem dubious why any other political aspirant would want to attach their name to Cain's. But in Miller's case, he needs all the attention he can get.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed Miller capturing 1 percent in the Republican primary. At 39 percent, Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) is the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination, and the only candidate to top 6 percent.

But appreciative as he might be for Miller's support for his tax plan, Cain has no current plans to return the favor by endorsing the Florida businessman.

"Mr. Cain is like a father, and now he wants to adopt children, so to speak. He's saying that kind of tongue-and-cheek, and some people may interpret that" as an endorsement, the aide said. "At this point, that's not in the stars."

What could be in the stars — according to Cain's team — are more federal candidates getting behind 9-9-9.

"I'll tip my hand on this one: Pete Hoekstra in Michigan is in the works to do the same," the aide said.

Hoekstra, a former Republican congressman, is the front-runner in the race to unseat Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).

A spokeswoman for Hoekstra did not respond to a message left Wednesday evening seeking comment.

—Cameron Joseph contributed.