Rick Perry Releases TV Ad Promising 2.5M Jobs
Presidential hopeful Rick Perry released his first campaign ad on Wednesday - beating out fellow GOP contenders Mitt Romney and Herman Cain to be the first to hit Iowan airwaves.
The Texas Governor’s 30-second spot focuses on job creation, a central component of Perry’s campaign.
The simply produced video features Perry wearing a dark suit and yellow tie, speaking straight to the camera-and making big promises.
“As president, I’ll create 2.5 million new jobs,” Perry said in the ad. “And I know something about that.”
The ad continues with footage of Perry shaking hands with workers at a factory and a construction site, as Perry’s voice touts his past economic accomplishments.
“In Texas we created over 1 million new jobs, while the rest of the nation lost over 2 million,” he said.
Perry goes on to explain the first step of this job-creation platform: opening domestic oil and gas fields to create jobs and reduce oil reliance on “countries that hate America.” Perry claims that President Obama’s regulations “hurt” potential sources of American energy.
Although the ad critiques the Obama administration, notably absent is any mention of Republican contender Mitt Romney - Perry’s main rival for the GOP slot.
But the Romney camp was quick to criticize the ad. According to the Boston Globe, campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said the ad does not provide the entire story, “failing to mention that unemployment in Texas has doubled on Perry’s watch and more than a million workers in his state are out of a job.”
ABC News reported that Perry spent $175,000 on this first ad buy, which in addition to Des Moines will air in Cedar Rapids and Sioux City.
The ad’s release comes just a day after Perry attempted to reinvigorate his campaign by unveiling an economic plan calling for an optional flat tax. Perry also recently shuffled his campaign team, bringing on Joe Allbaugh, who managed George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign.
