by
Attorney General Bill Schuette and his brazen product pitch.
Politicians have been known to pander to potential contributors to campaigns.
And in this case, Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette, who recently announced his candidacy for governor, shamefully panders to the 5-Hour Energy drink, a Michigan-based company, whose owner has been known to generously donate to political action committees.
Schuette recently launched a series of Facebook videos in "which he engages in wholesome, cutesy acts, like noshing on a hot dog at Comerica Park, talking up the windmill cookies in Holland or shopping for bullets at a Macomb County ammo store. You know, normal candidate stuff," writes Nancy Kaffer of the Detroit Free Press.
He also plugs 5-hour Energy, plus other businesses, in his political ads.
"Every once in a while you need a little pick-me-up — and a proper pick-me-up," Schuette says, standing outside a party store (right). "And what I like is . . . a 5-hour Energy. And I like orange," he says in the 18-second video.
"So I bought two. It's a pretty good deal."
Ughh.
Five attorney generals around the country have targeted 5-Hour Energy companies in lawsuits alleging unlawful marketing practices.
5-hour Energy founder Manoj Bhargava has deep pockets and in 2014, he was among the top donors to the Republican Governors' Association, Kaffer notes, adding:
Two years ago, Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson traced the path of a 2014 donation from a Bhargava subsidiary company to the campaign war chests of one Bill Schuette, then running for re-election to the attorney general's seat, an election he won handily.
The Bhargava subsidiary gave $125,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee, Dickerson wrote, which promptly gave $34,000 to Schuette's re-election campaign, the same day it received Bhargava's contribution.
"Meet Michigan's shadowy sugar daddy" is the headline on Dickerson's commentary.
Schuette's spokeswoman, Andrea Bitely, tells the Freep he "is aware that many entities, including 5-Hour Energy, have supported the leadership of Republican attorneys general — and therefore his own candidacy" and that he's proud of their support.
