The Stunts Are Big And Bright
From the moment Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) officially announced the worst kept secret in TX - that she is running for GOV - Gov. Rick Perry (R) has proven determined to be the spur in her saddle.
Among the tactics used to antagonize Hutchison, Harvey Kronberg reported for a local news website that the Perry campaign used a "big truck at Hutchison events and used it as a billboard. ... They even flew a plane over a Hutchison event with a banner admonishing Hutchison ... In an apparent reference to bailouts, Perry even had volunteers with costume pig snouts giving away dollar bills at one Hutchison event."
In response, Hutchison released a web ad criticizing the Perry criticism of her rollout.
And now, the Perry campaign is now attempting a jujitsu move in using that very same ad against her.
Early this afternoon, the Perry campaign posted the Hutchison ad on its anti-Hutchison website, "Washington Kay" with the headline "Thanks Sen. Hutchison for Your Video," and Perry campaign mgr. Rob Johnson wrote a sarcastic letter to the Texas Ethics Commission stating, "This video amounts to a highlight reel of her disastrous announcement tour. We feel it is beneficial to our campaign and have posted it on a website ... Because we have posted this video, paid for by Texans for Kay Bailey Hutchison, I write you for clarification of the reporting rules for in-kind contributions to our campaign and to determine if this video qualifies as an in-kind contribution that should be reported as such. I am not certain of a dollar amount for the video but would be willing to report it as 'priceless.'"
Hutchison spokesman Joe Pounder responds: "Rick Perry's track record of running negative, slash and burn campaigns is well-known. But this has to be the first time in political history that a campaign has proudly touted their own negativity."
[ABBY LIVINGSTON]
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