Rick Perry Super PAC Launches First Ads In Iowa, South Carolina

[FrenchieCat]

Rick Perry Super PAC Launches First Ads In Iowa, South Carolina

11/1/11




WASHINGTON -- A multimillion-dollar super PAC backing the candidacy of Texas Gov. Rick Perry has launched its first salvo in the Republican primary ad wars with two spots that seek to re-brand the struggling candidate.
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Make Us Great Again is viewed as one of the premier candidate-centric super PACs. Super PACs, an invention that followed the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, are independent political committees that can accept unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals. The first super PACs largely resembled party committees by favoring the election of a host of candidates. But the Republican presidential primary has given birth to the candidate-centric super PAC, which has now also caught on with the Democrats.

Many candidate-centric super PACs are led by close associates of the candidate they support, and Make Us Great Again is no exception. Mike Toomey, the group's head, is Perry's former chief of staff, a longtime friend and is known as one of the most powerful lobbyists in Austin. The group has plans to raise up to $55 million to help secure the Republican nomination for Perry. The fundraising for the group is being led by Dallas millionaire Brint Ryan, whose accounting firm's employees are the biggest donors to Perry's campaign committee. Super PACs are ostensibly independent from the actual candidate campaign and cannot plan advertising or strategy with the campaign.

So far, the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, the only super PAC with a fundraising pool as large as Make Us Great Again, has stayed on the sidelines. The entry of Make Us Great Again in Iowa and South Carolina could change that.

more.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/01/rick-perry-super-pac_n_1068822.html