Why the Rick Perry Super PAC Is Spending $1 Million to Get Their Candidate Into a Debate
Only 10 GOP candidates will be allowed to participate in the first debate.
— -- Backers of Rick Perry are strategizing to try to secure him a spot in the first Republican presidential primary debate next month, and they are spending some major cash to do it.
Only 10 GOP candidates will be allowed to participate in the Aug. 6 debate, which will be hosted by Fox News. Right now there are 15 candidates crowding the GOP field with two more on the way, and Perry may not make cut based on the network’s polling criteria.
So, Perry’s sanctioned super PAC, Opportunity and Freedom, is stepping in, unveiling a sweeping advertising campaign to target audiences across the country, running ads on Fox News, conservative talk radio and the Web.
“Our goal is to make sure he’s standing on the debate stage,” said Austin Barbour, senior adviser to the Opportunity and Freedom super PAC.
A spot in the August debate would give Perry a second chance of sorts after suffering a famous memory lapse at a 2011 Republican primary debate, which has become known as the former Texas governor’s “oops” moment.
Barbour said his group plans to spend just under $1 million on the advertising campaign.
One of the television ads the group has produced shows photos of a determined-looking Perry on a Texas Highway patrol boat as he talks about deploying the Texas National Guard to secure the border. A radio ad makes a similar point.
“When there was a crisis on our southern border, Rick Perry did more than talk,” a narrator in the spot says. “He took action.”
Both use the sound bite of Perry saying, “Mr. President, if you do not secure this border, Texas will.”
Barbour noted the radio advertisements will run on the conservative Salem radio network, which boasts an estimated 10 million listeners a week and includes talk shows hosted by Bill Bennett, Hugh Hewitt and Mike Gallagher.
He said the ads were aimed at reaching a “really dedicated, loyal group of conservative activists, and it’s really important we reintroduce Perry to them.”
