In what is a new era for struggling presidential campaigns, cash-strapped former Texas Gov. Rick Perry cut back his Iowa effort Monday but got a helping hand from a supportive super PAC.
Perry aides put out the word Monday that his Iowa operation, critical because of the first-in-the-nation caucuses, would be cut back to just one paid staffer.
But Perry supporters are standing firm.
"Iowa will still remain a key part of the campaign. Similarly, so too will South Carolina, where he was all last weekend and received an overwhelming response,” Bob Haus, Perry’s Iowa strategist told McClatchy.
“The polls in Iowa are snapshots of time, and the landscape here changes weekly. Who is at the top of the polls now may not be there in a month,” said Haus.
He said he will continue as an unpaid adviser.
Perry’s campaign stopped paying staffers in mid-August and several have now left, including an Iowa co-chair who joined the Donald Trump campaign.
But the Opportunity and Freedom PAC which supports Perry announced Monday the hiring of two experienced GOP operatives, Marshall Critchfield as Iowa State Director and Beth Hamilton as Iowa Deputy State Director.
“Our field team is in full operation,” said Austin Barbour, senior adviser to the super PAC, in an interview. “We’re starting our ground game operations with a few dozen people and we’ll be back on TV next week in the top three markets and statewide.”
The Opportunity and Freedom PAC reported $16.8 million in fundraising in July while Perry’s campaign - which is legally separate - reported raising only $1.1 million by the end of June.
Perry has seen a decline in support in Iowa with a Monmouth University poll of likely GOP caucus-goers released Monday showing him at 1 percent in August, down from 3 percent in July. The Iowa Poll done for the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg released Sunday also has Perry at 1 percent. Billionaire Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are leading the field of 17 in Iowa.
But Perry supporters are standing firm.
"We are in this race for the long haul, and thanks to the support of our donors we have the resources to run a state of the art grassroots effort in Iowa, and that is what Marshall and Beth have been hired to do," said Jordan Russell, spokesman for Opportunity and Freedom PAC.
Barbour, who is a nephew of former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, said there was plenty of time for Perry to succeed with the caucuses scheduled for Feb. 1, five months away.
“This thing is all etched in sand right now. Perry’s favorability ratings are very high. People like him. We have to do a good job of getting him to 15 percent and that gets him in the top three in Iowa,” said Barbour.
Super PACs emerged in 2010 after the Supreme Court allowed unlimited independent expenditures to candidates, as long as they were uncoordinated with the campaigns.
Drake University professor of political science Dennis Goldford said that super PACs were redefining campaigns. “You can keep going despite a poor showing,” he said. But he also asks: “Can the super PAC function as the equivalent of Perry’s campaign? That’s the question.”
Maria Recio: 202-383-6103, @maria_e_recio