It’s entertaining — a PAC-man figure goes through a maze gobbling up campaign contributions to annoying music — but I don’t think it is particularly effective. We live in the post-Citizens United age, and it’s not exactly a secret that politics is awash in cash. It’s been a long time since anyone has been shocked about Super PACs and other indignities. After all, Dewhurst has his own Super PAC and is wealthy in his own right. The degree to which Rick Perry’s ideas and campaign themes are prominent in the Dewhurst campaign is evident from this spot, which is reminscent of the governor’s 2010 campaign argument that “Washington is broken.” The idea is to brand Cruz as a Washington insider, the same attack Perry used against Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2010. But this isn’t 2010. Here is consultant David Carney’s statement about the ad:
After spending nearly half of his career in Washington, DC courting Washington special interest groups, it comes as no surprise that Ted Cruz has become the candidate of choice for DC insiders. Texans deserve a Senator who will stand up to Washington and fight the out-of-state groups looking for a puppet in the Senate to advance their own agenda. By accepting millions of dollars of support from Washington special interests, Ted has turned his back on Texas. Ted Cruz’s insatiable desire to gobble up DC money will bring forth a clear response from Texas Republicans.
