Current Elections 2012

During the second Republican debate, Michele Bachmann attacked Rick Perry on his HPV program in Texas, attempting to damage his reputation and his front runner stance. In the first debate, Bachmann was quiet and didn’t speak up much, but in this debate she got feisty and really gave Perry a run for his money. In 2007, Perry made an executive order that requires Texas school girls to receive vaccinations against the sexually transmitted HPV virus, Bachmann argued that he did this for pure political reasons. Bachmann points out that a big drug company made billions off of the executive order and that “at the time of this executive order Perry's former chief of staff was a top lobbyist for Merck, the manufacturer for the HPV vaccine." The drug company gave thousand of dollars in political donations to the governor," Bachmann said. "And this is just flat-out wrong." The CNN moderator was about to switch the focus to someone else but instead he gave Rick Perry a chance to respond to this attack. "The company was Merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them. I raise about $30 million. And if you're saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I'm offended," Perry replied. Bachmann could have kept going on this but decided to let the debate go on. For the rest of the night Perry was trying to defend himself and not let anything get out a hand but in the end he kept his title as front runner.

In the primary phase of a presidential election, it is important to stand out because you are running against people that are very similar to you in your beliefs. In this debate, Representative Bachmann uses the tactic “Spin” from Hardball. In order to make herself stand out she finds out something about Governor Perry---his HPV program---and points out all its flaws. She successfully points out that someone else is making money off of the executive order he signed creating this program and calls attention to it. She also makes giving a vaccine to young girls sound like the government is jabbing needles in your arm and there is nothing you can do about it.

To view a video of the exchange between Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry click here.