Weigel

Render Unto Perry

Ken Vogel reports on Rick Perry’s fundraising ramp-up, with details about how sloppy it might get because it needs to grind so quickly. It’s a must-read piece, with great details, and and I’ll just highlight a piece about one of the trouble donors.

They worry Payne’s role highlights a broader problem — that the urgency Perry backers feel to catch up financially to GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is leading to sloppiness and an insensitivity to perception that could leave the Texas governor and his allies vulnerable to criticism from rivals, scrutiny from the media and even legal complaints.

Adding to the problem, these allies said, is that Perry has never had to raise money under the intense national media scrutiny of a presidential campaign or the more restrictive federal rules — and they question whether some of his early fundraising efforts were fully vetted for compliance with those rules, let alone perceptions.

Perry’s never had to raise money in a federal election post-Citizens United, either. And the existence of Super PACs gives him a way to bypass the old system and maximize the impact of his big dollar donors. Surely that was a factor going into his decision to make the race. In another year, he might not have been able to catch up as quickly.