Cain to campaign with Hoekstra

Herman Cain will campaign for former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) as he challenges Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).

Cain will join Hoekstra next week on the campaign trail in Grand Rapids, Troy, Kalamazoo and Ypsilanti and will talk up Hoekstra's Tea Party credentials, the Grant Rapids Press reported.

“The Tea Party conservatives have been increasingly supporting Pete Hoekstra over the years as a result of his staunch fiscal policies in Congress,” Cain said in a statement to the paper.

Since dropping out of the presidential race in December, Cain has focused on convincing House and Senate candidates to adopt his signature 9-9-9 flat-tax plan. Hoekstra is one of the only candidates to have signed on as supportive of the plan.

“The Cain train derailed months ago but Pete Hoekstra’s is still trying to get on," said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Shripal Shah. "Supporting such a reckless plan shows Hoekstra will pander to any group to get elected, regardless of the consequences for Michigan families."

Hoekstra's campaign has been consumed for much of February by an uproar over a campaign ad that Democrats and Asian-American groups alleged was racist. The actress who appeared in the ad apologized Wednesday for shaming her community.