Rick Perry 2012 presidential campaign
The Rick Perry presidential campaign of 2012 began when Rick Perry, four-term Governor of Texas, announced via a spokesman on August 11, 2011, that he would be running for the 2012 Republican Party nomination for president of the United States.
Perry was considered as a potential candidate since as early as the 2008 presidential election, initially denying he was interested in the office but later becoming more open-minded. He formally launched his campaign on August 13, 2011, in Charleston, South Carolina. While he was initially successful in fundraising and was largely considered a serious contender for the nomination, he struggled during the debates and his poll numbers began to decline. After finishing fifth with just over 10% of the vote in the Iowa caucuses on January 3, 2012, Perry considered dropping out of the presidential race but did not. After a poor showing in New Hampshire and with "lagging" poll numbers in South Carolina, Perry formally announced he was suspending his campaign on January 19, 2012.
Draft efforts
Perry had persistently denied aspirations to higher office; he was originally included on the 2012 Presidential Straw Poll ballot at the Values Voter Summit in September 2009, but his name was removed at his own request. In April 2008 while appearing as a guest on CNBC's Kudlow & Company, he specifically stated that he would not agree to serve as vice president in a McCain administration, stating that he already had "the best job in the world" as governor of Texas.Further, during a Republican gubernatorial debate in January 2010, when asked if he would commit to serving out his term if re-elected, he replied that "the place hasn't been made yet" where he would rather serve than the governor of Texas. In December 2010, when asked if he was a "definite maybe" to run for president in 2012, he replied, "a definite no, brother".
On May 27, 2011, he said he was "going to think about" running for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination after the close of the Texas legislative session. Perry said in a response to a question from a reporter, "but I think about a lot of things," he added with a grin. Republican donors persistently asked Perry to run for office, and the efforts to draft Perry intensified in July and August 2011 until he decided to run. It was later reported by the Associated Press that Perry had called many of his warm contacts and done aggressive networking throughout 2011, and used Texas state phones to do so. The use of government phones for election and campaign activity is considered an ethical violation of an elected office. The Associated Press noted that its investigation was incomplete because the Perry administration had "censored dozens of calls for privacy reasons, and his schedules in recent years contain only partial information". A spokesman for the Governor's office insisted that the calls were all official government business.
Campaign developments
Beginning
On August 11, 2011, a Perry spokesman said that he would be running for president, with plans to announce his formal entry into the race two days later. Perry himself confirmed it on a visit to KVUE, the ABC affiliate in Austin, the state capital. As the Associated Press bulletin announcing his entry into the race came across the wire, Perry signed and dated a printed copy of the bulletin.On August 13, 2011, in a speech at Charleston, South Carolina, Perry officially announced that he would be a candidate for the Republican nomination. He later stated that it was his wife, Anita, who encouraged him to run for president, as he was happy being governor of Texas.
Perry said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke should stop printing more money to stimulate the economy, saying it was "treasonous" and that he would be treated "pretty ugly down in Texas" for his actions. He also criticized Barack Obama for not serving in the military, saying, "The president had the opportunity to serve his country. I'm sure at some time he made the decision that isn't what he wanted to do."
On August 17, 2011, at a breakfast with business leaders in New Hampshire Perry said that he does not believe the science behind global warming. He said "there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects."
Make Us Great Again Super PAC
Because of Perry's comparatively late entry into the race, he was behind other candidates in fundraising and was under pressure to raise money quickly. Questions were raised about his fundraising methods. For one, his campaign was supported by a super PAC called "Make Us Great Again". A super PAC is allowed to raise unlimited funds from individuals and even from corporations, which cannot contribute to federal candidates, but the super PAC is required to be completely independent from the campaign.Make Us Great Again was created and headed by Mike Toomey, who had been Perry's chief of staff. This arrangement was criticized as illegal by Fred Wertheimer, the president of the watchdog group Democracy 21, who said, "The idea that such a PAC is going to be independent from the campaign is ridiculous." Perry's former legislative director, Dan Shelley, is also running a pro-Perry super PAC. Perry's longstanding feud with Karl Rove may be another factor in his Super PAC fundraising, as Rove is a key advisor to many major Republican donors.
Perry took the fundraising lead in his first reporting period. The biggest source of his donations was from employees of George Brint Ryan's tax and accounting firm. As of January 16, 2012, the PAC had spent $3.96 million on promoting Perry's campaign.
September 2011: Early struggles in debates
Perry's performances in the GOP debates received generally poor reviews from the media. His botched attempt to criticize Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper in a debate held in Orlando, Florida was described as a "spectacular failure." His speech was so garbled that Mark Hemingway of the Weekly Standard asked if Perry had suffered a stroke, and Brit Hume of Fox News stated that Perry, "at a time when he needed to raise his game, I mean, he did worse, it seems to me, than he had done in previous debates." However, Paul Burka, senior executive editor at Texas Monthly, said "Eventually the debates will end, and retail politics will take center stage. I think Perry will have an advantage in that format because he is better at the meet-and-greet and connecting with people than Mitt Romney is."Perry lost many conservatives' support when he defended the Texas policy of allowing in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants. He said during one debate that those who opposed financially supporting their education didn't "have a heart." He was later forced to spend much of his time on the campaign trail defending the law, saying it was compassionate conservatism, was a state-only issue, and was well-intentioned because it would turn those citizens into productive, taxpaying members of society.
After he mishandled a question about how he would respond to a "3am call" as president, Perry's advisers insisted that he get more sleep before the remaining debates. However, Alex Castellanos said of his next performance, at Dartmouth College, that the next time he should bring a mattress. Perry admitted after the event that "Debates are not my strong suit." Perry's performance in the Las Vegas debate was better received, at least in comparison to the other GOP hopefuls.
Perry finished in second place in the 2011 California, Florida, Michigan and National Federation of Republican Women's Convention straw polls. He later placed fourth in the Values Voter Summit straw poll and then fifth in the Midwest Leadership Conference and South Carolina tea party straw polls.
He continued at around fifth place until he dropped out of the race.
October 2011: Facing difficulties
October 2011 was a poor month for his campaign, as his debate performances, scrutiny from conservatives, negative media attention, and the rise of Herman Cain's popularity caused his viability to sink. His wife, Anita Perry, reflected on the "rough month", saying he was being "brutalized" by his opponents for his Christian faith.In October 2011, the Washington Post reported that Perry's family leases a hunting camp once called "Niggerhead". According to some local residents interviewed by the Post, the Perrys used the camp for years before painting over a large rock with that name on it, which stands at an entrance to the area, and during this time Perry hosted friends and supporters at the camp. Perry was criticized as being "insensitive" by Republican primary rival Herman Cain. Perry's campaign disputed the claims made by Cain and the Post, stating that the Perrys painted over the rock almost immediately after acquiring a lease on the property in 1983.
Following the controversy, Perry's record on racial issues was scrutinized. The suggestion was made that allowing the use of the Confederate flag amounted to racism. He was criticised for having defended a display of Confederate symbols and having allegedly run "race-baiting" ads during his 1990 campaign against liberal activist and Democrat Jim Hightower for Texas agriculture commissioner. The ads pictured Hightower next to Jesse Jackson while a voice-over asks "Does Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower share your values?"
The ads were criticized for their racial content by leaders in Texas's congressional black caucus, fellow members with Hightower of the Democratic Party. However, several black Texas Democrats, such as former state Senator Ron Wilson and current Senator Royce West, defended Perry against accusations of racism, with Wilson saying, "He doesn't have a racist bone in his body. He didn't then, and he doesn't now." and West pointing to "many things he has done that were sensitive to ethnic minorities".
Perry's links to the New Apostolic Reformation and its founder C. Peter Wagner, who helped organize Perry's prayer rally The Response, also received scrutiny by enemies of Perry. Perry has said he does not necessarily endorse the views of Wagner, who has advocated publicly burning religious images and claimed that Japan is controlled by demons because its emperor had sex with the sun goddess.