December 08, 2011 10:59 PM UTC

Rick Perry's Anti-Gay TV Spot Turns Tragicomic

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• by: Colorado Pols

FRIDAY UPDATE: Statement from Colorado Democratic Party chair Rick Palacio:

“In thirty seconds, Rick Perry’s latest campaign ad highlights what’s wrong in politics today. Instead of offering constructive solutions to the real world problems that our country is facing, he has chosen the well worn path of division and bigotry.

“Many things make this country great, not the least of them is our diversity. Brave men and women from all walks of life, from every race and religion and from every sexual orientation have fought and died for the basic freedoms that make this country great. Including the right of free speech that Governor Perry is exercising today. Sadly Governor Perry is choosing to exercise that right in way that spreads hate and pits Americans against one another.

“As a Christian and a gay man, I find this ad to be deeply offensive and I call on Governor Perry to remove this ad from the airways. I also call on Congressman Coffman, who chairs Rick Perry’s Colorado campaign, to denounce both the tactics and the content of this video. If Congressman Coffman refuses to do so, he owes the people of Colorado an explanation why such bigotry should stay on the air.” [Pols emphasis]

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“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian. But you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in schools.”

Keen-eyed observers quickly noticed something (we assume) unintentional–and hilarious:

A little more seriously, Huffington Post’s Sam Stein:

The spot, which began airing in Iowa on Wednesday, features the governor questioning why soldiers can serve openly in the military while children “can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.” Coming a day after Perry criticized the Obama administration for using foreign aid to defend gay rights abroad, the ad was one more note in a fairly overt dog whistle aimed at the Hawkeye State’s influential evangelical voting block.

But not everyone was comfortable with the script. When the ad was being crafted several weeks ago, Perry’s top pollster, Tony Fabrizio, called it “nuts,” according to an email sent from Fabrizio to the ad’s main creator, longtime GOP operative Nelson Warfield. In a separate email to The Huffington Post, Warfield confirmed that the ad was made over Fabrizio’s objections.

“Tony was against it from the get-go,” Warfield wrote. “It was the source of some extended conversation in the campaign. To be very clear: That spot was mine from writing the poll question to test[ing] it to drafting the script to overseeing production.”

…Reached by email, Fabrizio confirmed that he was uncomfortable with the ad. But he said he was going to follow the advice he has given to candidates throughout his career: “If you start answering personal attacks, you are just rewarding the attacker.”

Other sources familiar with the Perry campaign have said that Warfield is the one driving the sharp cultural conservative tones that have come from the candidate in recent days. In addition to coming out against openly gay service in the armed forces, the campaign has tested voter reaction against taxpayer-funded abortion and defunding Planned Parenthood.

A poll follows.

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