Rick Perry is still on the campaign trail amid financial problems. Low fundraising has left the former governor unable to pay his staff, although his campaign manager says only one staff member has left, so far.
Abby Livingston is Washington Bureau Chief for the Texas Tribune. She says Perry ran into two major problems.
Highlights from Abby Livingston’s interview:
Why Perry’s having a tough time raising money: This is a better field than four years ago. He’s competing against much better candidates and many of them have ties to the Lone Star State. You have Jeb Bush, whose family practically invented modern political fundraising in Texas, you have Ted Cruz, and then you have other candidates who don’t have ties to Texas who’ve made inroads into the Texas donor world. So it’s a world for Perry who’s a much better candidate (than four years ago), but it’s a much more difficult field.
There’s a super PAC standing by to help: He has some very, very smart operatives in Mississippi who are on his side, who are running this super PAC. It raised about 17 million dollars, as of June 30. And they say they’ve been raising money since the news came out that Perry is in financial trouble. But they cannot coordinate with Governor Perry. They have to run their separate operation, but they say they are willing to assume responsibilities that typically the candidate’s campaign has traditionally done in presidential races.
For more information:
