Herman Cain’s economic adviser

Herman Cain, for the first time, named his economic-adviser who helped him create the 999 plan yesterday. The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO was pressed for his circle of economic advisers at Tuesday’s debate in response to a question from moderator Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post.

Herman Cain says his much-touted 9-9-9 plan is the product of extensive testing and thinking, but the only man he cited as involved with its research — Rich Lowrie.

When I first heard the name I thought he meant “Rich Lowry” of the National Review. Rich Lowry is the “starburst” clown who wrote this about Sarah Palin in 2008.

“A very wise TV executive once told me that the key to TV is projecting through the screen. It’s one of the keys to the success of, say, a Bill O’Reilly, who comes through the screen and grabs you by the throat. Palin too projects through the screen like crazy. I’m sure I’m not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, “Hey, I think she just winked at me.” And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can’t be learned; it’s either something you have or you don’t, and man, she’s got it.

But the Herman Cain’s adviser is “Rich Lowrie”. Rich Lowrie is not a trained economist. He is a wealth manager for a division of Wells Fargo.  He also spent three years on the advisory board of the conservative third-party group Americans For Prosperity.