Rick Perry Starts Work on Campaign Infrastructure

By Lynn Campbell 
IowaPolitics.com 


DES MOINES — Now that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has made his grand entrance into the 2012 Republican presidential race and two recent polls show he’s the new front-runner, the hard work begins — building a campaign organization here. 

Robert Haus, vice president of public affairs for PolicyWorks, a Des Moines-based consulting firm, and his wife Ruth, president of the Living History Farms outdoor agricultural museum in Urbandale, are the key consultants spearheading that effort. 

“Right now, that’s probably as organized as the campaign is,” state Sen. David Johnson, R-Ocheyedan, told IowaPolitics.com. “I continue to talk to northwest Iowans about seriously considering supporting Perry at the Iowa caucuses.” 

Robert Haus and members of Perry’s national campaign declined to comment this week about Perry's Iowa campaign buildup. Haus said an announcement is expected next week. 

Johnson has been vocal about his support for Perry and is among those hoping to get a job with the campaign. 

“Organizing is just under way … I expect (there will be) some sort of formal announcement in two or three weeks,” Johnson said. “I believe the campaign knows full well that I’ve got a successful record of organizing in northwest Iowa.” 

Meanwhile, Americans for Rick Perry, the tax-exempt 527 independent organization that encouraged Iowans to write in Perry at the Ames Straw Poll, has disbanded in Iowa after less than six weeks. 

“I’m nobody. I’m just a lawyer hanging out West Des Moines right now,” said Craig Schoenfeld, the former Iowa executive director for Americans for Rick Perry who once led a team of eight staff members. 

The group was successful in its effort. Perry placed sixth at the Ames Straw Poll with 718 write-in votes, or 3.6 percent of the total votes, even though he had declared his candidacy only that day. He beat former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who also did not participate in the straw poll. Romney placed seventh with 567 votes, or 3.4 percent. 

While the independent pro-Perry group may seem like a natural place for the Texas governor to draw from to build his campaign, 527 advocacy groups are prohibited by federal law from coordinating events with a candidate. And even though the Iowa group has disbanded, Federal Election Commission rules won’t allow those Perry supporters to work for his campaign for 120 days, or about four months. 

That puts those workers in limbo until Dec. 15. Schoenfeld said that by then, he’ll be close to working his “real job” as a legislative lobbyist, so he’ll probably just volunteer for the Perry campaign, rather than be employed by it. 

Johnson said he believes Americans for Rick Perry helped the Texas governor’s candidacy. He compared it to a Draft Branstad tax-exempt 527 independent organization that two years ago encouraged longtime Republican Gov. Terry Branstad to run for governor again. Branstad not only ran, but won, ousting one-term Democratic Gov. Chet Culver from Terrace Hill. 

“Even though Gov. Perry wasn’t campaigning here, at least the word was getting out,” Johnson said. 

Two polls this week identified Perry as the front-runner among 2012 Republican presidential candidates. 

A We Ask America poll taken Tuesday of 649 Iowa Republicans who are likely general election voters showed Perry leading with 29 percent, followed by Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann with 17 percent and Romney with 15 percent. 

We Ask America is a polling company based in Springfield, Ill. That portion of the poll, which was released Wednesday, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.85 percentage points. 

In addition, a national poll of 1,000 likely Republican primary voters taken Monday by Rasmussen Reports showed similar results — Perry at 29 percent, followed by Romney with 18 percent and Bachmann at 13 percent. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. 

“I sense a real interest in supporting Perry in the end,” Johnson said. 

Johnson predicted that some of the support for Perry will come from those who backed candidates who ended up as “also rans” at the Ames Straw Poll. 

“Once those campaigns fold their tents, and they will, I really expect there to be a good strong show of support among northwest Iowans, including several lawmakers,” Johnson said. 

But Drew Ivers, state campaign chairman for Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, said his campaign isn’t intimidated by Perry. 

While media attention this week has focused on Perry, Bachmann, Romney as well as President Barack Obama, Paul placed a strong second at the Ames Straw Poll with 4,671 votes, or 27.7 percent of the 16,892 votes cast. That placed him within 152 votes of Bachmann, who won. 

“Ron Paul’s base is a little different base. Perry will pull from Romney and Bachmann more than from Ron Paul. We don’t see that as a direct threat,” Ivers said. 

Ivers said Perry is among those parroting Paul’s message and saying he’s going to do what Paul has said in areas such as monetary policy and the Federal Reserve. And while Democrats have called Perry a tea party candidate, Ivers maintained that Paul is the godfather of the tea party movement, which is made up of people fed up with too much government. 

“Just to say you’re a Republican and a conservative doesn’t mean you’re constitutionally based,” Ivers said. “Ron Paul is in his 12th term in Congress over a 30-year period. He has been the champion of trying to find and promote solutions to the biggest problem on the planet, and that’s too much spending.” 

See more on the We Ask America poll: 
http://weaskamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Iowa-0816112.pdf 

See more on the Rasmussen reports poll: 
http://tinyurl.com/3bl7poz