Perry’s New Web-Ad – Is it a Total Waste of Effort and Money? UPDATE: SNL Skit Added

Here is the Perry Campaign’s latest ad which has been given three Pinocchios by Washington Post:

How bad must this ad be that we are posting an anti-Romney video on a pro-Romney website? Hot Air dubs this attack as “desperate”, but I would say “sad” is more appropriate. I’m dumb-founded by how ill-prepared Rick Perry and his campaign seem to be. The mistakes just keep piling up on top of each other. Virtually guaranteeing a win in a meaningless straw poll was a huge unforced error. I personally know quite a few social conservatives who were excited by his candidacy, but all of the early enthusiasm for Gov. Perry has evaporated in record time.

Mark B. Lowe has three problems with this ad:

(1) It tries to establish the meme that Romney is a flip-flopper. Since nearly every single voter is already well aware of that accusation, it is a waste of effort. Is the Perry Campaign that out of ideas?

(2) It is a bit dull. It has all the pizazz of a lecture on drying paint.

(3) It illustrates what has been a major Perry problem since day one. He almost always frames his campaign as a contest between him and Mitt Romney. Even during the last few weeks where he was the undisputed frontrunner, he seemed to focus his energy on Mitt, not Obama.

Meanwhile, Romney been concentrating on Obama. Even while Perry has been the King-of-the-hill, Mitt focused on the President. True, he did launch an attack or two Perry’s way, but he always tried to couch it in terms of defeating Obama.

The minute that it became obvious that Perry had imploded last Thursday, Mitt dropped his attacks. Friday at Mackinaw Island, MI — the very day after Perry imploded at the debate — Mitt spoke for thirty minutes without even an oblique reference to his chief rival for the nomination.

The result of all this: People think of Perry in terms of contesting Romney; they think of Romney in terms of contesting Obama. That has to be to Romney’s advantage.

Finally, if you want to get some laughs, watch what SNL thought of the most recent debate: