海角大神

Rick Perry鈥檚 presidential campaign is running on fumes. Or is it?

After raising just over $1 million as of the end of June, reports say the former longtime Texas governor has stopped paying his staff, suggesting that his funds are all but drained. Yet aides close to the campaign say super PACs supporting Mr. Perry鈥檚 candidacy remain flush, an indication that his White House bid is far from dead on its feet.

鈥淥h God yes, full steam ahead. Because we raised $16.8 million鈥� through last month, Austin Barbour, senior adviser to Perry's super PACs, told the National Journal. 鈥淲e raised as much money as possible so that we would have the ability to spend it in whatever way we needed to spend it.鈥�

The odd asymmetry between official campaign cash and outside funds is a new reality in modern politics, where super PACs reign supreme. As 海角大神 reported in early August:

Republicans in particular have relied heavily on such groups for this campaign, according to the New York Times, which analyzed Federal Election Commission reports and Internal Revenue Service records.

In Perry鈥檚 case, two wealthy Texans 鈥� retired data company founder Darwin Deason and pipeline company executive Kelcy L. Warren 鈥� are largely responsible for backing his two super PACs, Opportunity and Freedom and Opportunity and Freedom I, Politico reports. Between them, Mr. Deason and Mr. Warren contributed $11 million of the $12.8 million the two groups raised in the first half of the year.

A third super PAC, created in July, collected another $4 million from a single donor, according to CNN.

鈥淗ere are the facts: We have plenty of money to put [Perry] in position to finish in the top three or even win Iowa,鈥� Mr. Barbour told the Times. 聽

But Perry鈥檚 campaign staff may have to work for free to get him there: Federal Election Commission regulations require aides to take a 120-day cooling off period before they can be involved in a super PAC鈥檚 activities. The campaign is also cutting expenditures down to the bare essentials while hoping for a breakthrough moment that could boost fundraising, perhaps in the Sept. 16 debate, the Washington Post reports.

How that might affect Perry鈥檚 bid remains unclear, but 鈥渢here's no way to spin this that's positive,鈥� Texas Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak told the National Journal. Perry already faces what pundits call an 鈥渦phill slog鈥� after an ill-fated first White House attempt in 2011.

鈥淗e starts off behind the starting line; he鈥檚 got a lot to prove,鈥� Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas in Austin, told the Monitor.

Still, most of Perry鈥檚 aides have stuck with him even after campaign manager Jeff Miller told staff Friday that they would no longer be paid and are free to look for other jobs, according to the Post.

鈥淧ay is only one reason people do this,鈥� Katon Dawson, Perry's South Carolina state director, told the Journal. 鈥淲e'll be able to live off the land for a while.鈥�