New Mitt Romney 'fidelity' ad aims to lure social conservatives
| Washington
Rick Perry鈥檚 latest ad - about Obama鈥檚 鈥渨ar on religion鈥� - is drawing notice for this line:聽
鈥溾�here鈥檚 something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can鈥檛 openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.鈥�
It鈥檚 Perry鈥檚 most pointed - and provocative -聽ad to date, though it鈥檚 not the first where he鈥檚 focused on religion. Other Perry ads have included the one when he accused President Obama of calling Americans 鈥渓azy,鈥� and a recent one where he somewhat painfully tried to make fun of his 鈥渙ops鈥� moment (see 鈥渄ead horse, beating鈥�).
Mitt Romney has also Wednesday called 鈥淟eader鈥� (though based on its content, we think it should really be titled 鈥淔idelity鈥�), in which he states:聽
鈥淚 think people understand that I鈥檓 a man of steadiness and constancy.鈥�
In the ad, Romney notes he鈥檚 been married to the same woman for 42 years (unlike, um, wait a minute, it鈥檒l come to us鈥�), belonged to the same church his whole life, and even worked at one company (Bain Capital) for 25 years.
Both Perry and Romney are clearly making a play for social conservatives - who tend to make up a significant portion of Iowa鈥檚 GOP caucus-goers (last cycle, you鈥檒l remember, they gave former Arkansas Gov. and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee the win).
But will these ads generate significant traction for either candidate? That鈥檚 a particularly pressing question for Perry - who has already laid out a huge amount of cash on TV ads, with very little to show for it.聽
MSNBC鈥檚 First Read provided a detailed breakdown Wednesday of聽聽to date.聽聽Overall, Perry has spent a combined $7.6 million on ads (between his campaign and his SuperPAC; technically they are prohibited from coordinating). Ron Paul has spent $2.6 million; Jon Huntsman has spent $1.4 million (mostly through his SuperPAC); Romney has spent $674,000; Newt Gingrich has spent $233,000; Michele Bachmann has spent $166,000; and Rick Santorum has spent $23,000.
Aside from the jaw-dropping amount Perry has already spent compared with his rivals, the most interesting number to us was just how little Romney has spent (perhaps too little, given that he now seems to be facing a real threat from Gingrich).
That鈥檚 clearly about to change.
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