Stephen Colbert's Super PAC Launches First Campaign Video

Comedian Stephen Colbert is putting his political action committee cash to work with advertisements that mockingly endorse Texas Governor Rick Perry ahead of an Iowa straw poll this week on the other Republican presidential hopefuls.


The tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign is the first that Colbert has launched since the Comedy Central comedian won approval in June from the Federal Election Commission to form his "Super PAC."


In a pair of advertisements unveiled on his Super PAC website this week ahead of the Ames Straw Poll on Saturday, Colbert jokingly urges Iowans to write in the name of Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is not listed on the ballot, but to misspell it as "Parry."


"I called dibs on Rick Parry a long time ago," Colbert said in a comedic statement that lauds the staunchly conservative governor for his "tough talk" and "cowboy boots."


The comedian who masquerades as a conservative commentator on his late-night program "The Colbert Report" but has espoused liberal causes seems to have made a well-timed choice for his satirical endorsement.


On Thursday, a Perry spokesman confirmed he will seek the 2012 Republican nomination. Perry's official announcement is planned for Saturday.


Colbert joked that he wants Iowans to write in "'Parry with an 'A' for America, with an 'A' for Iowa."


It was unclear where the advertisements have appeared aside from Colbert's Super PAC website. But a statement from the organization said that at least one commercial has begun airing "across the greater Des Moines metroplex.


Colbert's launched his salvo in time for this weekend's Ames Straw Poll, a high school-style popularity contest in Iowa where Republican presidential contenders win votes with Christian worship bands, dunk tanks and other odd tactics. Colbert is urging supporters to cast a write-in vote for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has decided to avoid the straw poll all together. The hitch? He wants Iowans to spell it: "Rick Parry."


It's subtle humor, perhaps, but if you don't like the Parry joke, you can enjoy the campaign ad pastiche, which shows the Texas straight-talker brandishing a gun and unleashing his signature sneer.
Who will Colbert's PAC endorse if Perry (or Parry) drops out of the race? One thing's for certain: he won't be at a loss for satirical material this campaign season.

Gov. Perry running for president

Texas Governor Rick Perry has yet to officially announce his presidential candidacy, but Democrats and Republicans are wasting no time in questioning his fitness to be president - and his campaign strategies.


In a Friday interview with CBS' "The Early Show," top Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod questioned Perry's record on job creation, suggesting that Texas's unemployment rate - which, at 8.2 percent is one point less than the national average - was a product of natural advantages rather than good governing.


"I don't think many would attribute[Texas' unemployment rate to the leadership of the governor down there," Axelrod said. "He's been the beneficiary down there of the boom in oil prices and obviously that state like Texas is going to benefit from that - and increased military spending because of the wars, because Texas is home to many military bases.


When asked about Perry's criticism of President Obama's jobs record, Axelrod, in an apparent attempt to downplay Perry's seriousness as a presidential candidate, reminded CBS News' Rebecca Jarvis that "he's also called for secession from the United States of America."


According to statistics from the Federal Reserve and Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas created 262,000 new jobs between June 2009 and June 2011 -- half the nation's 524,000 payroll gains. But according to the BLS, many of those were minimum wage jobs, as the number of minimum wage workers in Texas rose from 221,000 in 2007 to 550,000 in 2010. And while Texas has created 1.2 million jobs during Perry's tenure, the state population has grown by 4.3 million.


Perry, who is expected to be announce his candidacy on Saturday, will likely become an immediate frontrunner for the nomination upon entering the race. Many have already pegged him as the biggest threat to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's candidacy.


But as Perry readies a handful of campaign appearances this weekend - the same weekend of Iowa's famous straw poll - some question the wisdom of his apparent stab at overshadowing the crucial early caucus state's political festivities.


Perry’s nascent presidential campaign is not expected to rest after this weekend’s launch. Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H., confirmed that he’s scheduled to meet privately with Perry next Wednesday. He also confirmed a separate meeting with the first-in-the-nation primary state’s only Republican senator, Kelly Ayotte.


Neither has decided whom to endorse, but both have been courted heavily by the presidential field.


Unlike others in the race, Perry has credibility with the at-times warring camps of the GOP’s primary electorate. The pro-business tax-cutter who has presided over Texas’ recent economic growth also is a devout social conservative with deep ties to some of the nation’s evangelical leaders and Christians who dominate the pivotal Iowa caucuses.


But Perry also has never run a national campaign before, and it’s unclear whether his Texas swagger and sometimes unorthodox policy positions will sit well with GOP primary voters outside his state. Another open question is whether he can raise the money necessary to mount a strong campaign against those who have been in the race for months or more.


He may face fierce opposition from secular groups and progressives who argue that his religious rhetoric violates the separation of church and state and that his belief that some groups, such as the Boy Scouts of America, should be allowed to discriminate against gays is bigoted.


Within the Republican Party, Perry has opponents among moderates who question his understanding of national and international policy, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who ran against him for governor in a bitter 2010 primary race.


An early adopter of tea party rhetoric, Perry even has some opponents in the movement. They complain he hasn’t taken strong enough stances on state spending and illegal immigration, in part because as governor Perry signed a law making Texas the first state to offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants and blasted a proposed border fence as “idiocy.”


But before he starts pumping up supporters and wooing detractors, Perry will need to raise name recognition outside of Texas and conservative circles along with funds to fill a presidential campaign coffer. None of the money he’s raised for Texas elections can be used in a national race, so he is starting from scratch.


The governor lags well behind previously announced candidates in both campaign workers and fundraising, mostly because he denied any interest in the presidency until late May. But the story he tells of having no interest in higher office until friends and family persuaded him to join the race adds to his carefully cultivated image as a Texas cowboy reluctantly riding into Washington to save the day.

Axelrod Says He'd Fire Anyone Who Calls Romney 'Weird'

One of Tim Pawlenty’s laugh lines last night was a gibe at Mitt Romney’s personal wealth; after declaring that he’d mow the lawn of any American who could identify President Barack Obama’s plan for entitlements reform, Pawlenty said that offer was limited to one acre of lawn for Romney.

I was just having some fun with that, pulling Mitt’s chain a little bit,” Pawlenty said.

But a more serious underlying point, Pawlenty said, is that voters want to know about the backgrounds of the presidential candidates and to whom they can relate.

“I think if people are running for president, want to be president, the electorate wants to know who are you, where do you come from,” Pawlenty said. “I don’t suggest that my life story is better or worse than anybody else’s. It’s just different.”

Pawlenty mentioned that his father was a truck driver and his mother died when he was young, and mentioned that he “got lucky, got a job at a grocery store, worked in a union position” and worked his way through college.

“Those are the kinds of things people want to know because if you’re president, they’re gonna want to know, who is this person and does your life story kind of line up with theirs?” Pawlenty said.

Circling back to Romney, Pawlenty continued: “In Mitt’s case, he’s got an incredibly successful background and I think we should applaud it and celebrate it”

Axelrod’s declaration came after an article earlier this week by Politico, in which anonymous aides and advisors from Obama’s reelection campaign were quoted as saying they were ready to launch a “ferocious personal attack” on Romney. One source was quoted as saying that there is a “weirdness factor” about Romney.

But this morning Axelrod pushed back on the report, telling host Joe Scarborough when asked if he’d go as far as to fire staffers who used the word “weird” in reference to Romney that he would.

“I would if someone used words like weird I would certainly do that, yes,” said Axelrod. “I thought that was totally inappropriate.”

“All of it is garbage,” he added.

And on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Axelrod suggested that reporters should stop relying on these unnamed sources.

“Anyone who purports to be a source of the Obama campaign who makes those remarks who made those kind of comments should be removed from those reporters rolodexes,” said Axelrod.

Elizabeth Warren hints at Massachusetts Senate run

WASHINGTON – The state’s top Republican Party official criticized Elizabeth Warren’s nascent US Senate campaign today for enlisting the aid of consultants at a Beacon Hill firm that does lobbying.


Warren, the architect of the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tapped Doug Rubin, founder of the lobbying firm Northwind Strategies, and Kyle Sullivan, a public relations expert who works at the firm, as early advisers for her exploration of a challenge to US Senator Scott Brown.


Warren kicked it off yesterday with a lengthy and personal blog post on a Democratic site, the Blue Mass Group.


“It’s ironic that a so-called consumer champion like Professor Warren is already taking her marching orders from two well-connected Beacon Hill lobbyists,” Jennifer Nassour, chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, said in a statement - although only Rubin is a lobbyist.


In an online essay introducing herself to voters and inviting input about repairing the political system, the Harvard Law School professor criticized special interests and the role they play in setting policy in Washington.


Northwind Strategies’ clients have included the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, Bay State beer makers, and a lottery technology company, GTECH Corp.


Rubin defended himself today, saying that only “a limited part” of his lobbying has involved public policy advocacy, and that he’s complied with all reporting requirements.


“My work on behalf of Elizabeth Warren is consistent with my work over the past 20 years, and will be separate from my work with Northwind Strategies. It’s unfortunate that my 20 years of working to elect progressive candidates is glossed over so deceptively by the Republican Party. I am proud of my record of support for progressive issues and candidates and look forward to continuing that work in the future,” he said in a statement.


It is time for me to think hard about what role I can play next to help rebuild a middle class that has been hacked at, chipped at, and pulled at for more than a generation -- and that that is under greater strain every day," she continued.


Liberals love Warren and had pushed hard for President Obama to nominate her to be the first director of the consumer agency -- an agency she was the first to propose back in 2007. But most Republicans and much of Wall Street opposed Warren, raising concerns that she could not be confirmed.


Obama avoided a confirmation battle by naming her an advisor in September, allowing her to take the lead in organizing the bureau before it launched last month. But with Senate Republicans vowing to block any nominee unless the new agency's powers were weakened, Obama opted to nominate former Ohio Atty. Gen. Richard Cordray.


Warren has returned to Harvard Law School to teach in the fall semester. And the experience in Washington left an impression on her, she said, hinting she'd like to return to make some changes.


"In the weeks ahead, I want to hear from you about the challenges we face and how we get our economy growing again," she wrote in the blog post. "I also want to hear your ideas about how we can fix what all of us -- regardless of party -- know is a badly broken political system.

Tim Pawlenty keeps the heat on Michele Bachmann

Just a few hours after sparring heatedly in a televised debate, Republican presidential candidates on Friday turned their attention to the real showdown in Iowa this week: Saturday’s Ames straw poll.


The campaign trail displayed a new urgency as candidates sprinted through breakfast gatherings and television interviews and the celebrated Iowa State Fair, a must-do for presidential hopefuls who share the spotlight with a cow sculpted from butter and deep-fried candy bars.


Pawlenty said that regardless of the fact that Bachmann is the only woman in the GOP field, it’s not about gender. It’s about the issues, results, and leading and saving our country.”


The exchange came just hours after Pawlenty and Bachmann engaged in their fiercest and most direct confrontations of the campaign so far, and a day before the critical Ames straw poll that could ultimately make or break Pawlenty’s candidacy. Pawlenty’s more sharp-edged approach was a break from the June debate, when he awkwardly backed away from earlier criticisms of front-runner Mitt Romney. But Pawlenty said Friday that he’s just answering the questions asked of him.


“No matter which way you calibrate that, a bunch of people are upset one way or the other,” he said. “So you just gotta answer the question.”


He played down a joke he made during the debate that jabbed at Romney’s considerable wealth.


“I was just having some fun with that and pulling Mitt’s chain,” he said.


Pawlenty insisted there’s no personal bad blood between him and Romney.


“I like Mitt,” he said. “We don’t have any personal tension or animosity.”


Asked by POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin whether he’s prepared to slim down his campaign if Ames doesn’t go well and a state-by-state slog emerges, Pawlenty expressed confidence that he’ll make a strong showing at Ames but acknowledged that he may be forced to pare down his campaign if he doesn’t. “We may not have any choice if it went that way.”


“We’re seeing some nice movement in the numbers. I can’t tell you that we’re gonna win it tomorrow or that we need to win it,” he said. “I think it’ll be a good result.


A win for Pawlenty could give him the momentum he needs, while a loss, depending on its severity, could doom his ability to draw crucial donors heading into the fall. Bachmann hopes to show that she can sustain her catapult to the top of the standings in Iowa since declaring her candidacy in June. Less clear are the consequences of a victory for Paul, whose libertarian and isolationist views attract intense support from a narrow band of Republican voters but are not in step with the mainstream of the GOP.


Adding uncertainty to the significance of the straw poll was the list of candidates not competing in it. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to announce his candidacy Saturday morning, and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who will visit the state fair Friday, will not appear on the straw poll ballot. Palin’s presidential plans remain unknown, but Perry’s widely anticipated announcement could prompt a write-in campaign on his behalf at the straw poll.


Similarly, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will not participate in the poll, but his standing as the presumed national front-runner could attract significant support.


Poor showings by candidates lower down in the standings, including former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and businessman Herman Cain, could begin the process of winnowing the Republican field as the presidential campaign heads into the fall.


Pawlenty had harsh words for the so-called congressional super committee charged with finding more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction.


“I think it’s super stupid,” he said to laughter. “We have a Congress and we have a president, do your job.”


Pawlenty dodged several questions about what he thought would have happened if the debt ceiling hadn’t been lifted by the Aug. 2 deadline, but pressed repeatedly, he came down somewhere between the conservative debt-ceiling skeptics and economists who say it would have been disastrous.


“It probably would have been very negative for a while, but it’s very negative right now anyway,” he said.


Pawlenty said his news diet includes The Economist, USA Today while he’s on the road, the Star Tribune in Minnesota and clips from other outlets his campaign staff sends him. But his news consumption habits have changed of late: Pawlenty said he lost his iPad a couple weeks in San Francisco and still hasn’t bought a new one.