By Peggy Fikac and Richard S. Dunham, Staff Writers

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry’s failed presidential run is a tale of two campaigns: the one that offered the nation a confident Texan with a track record of economic accomplishments, and the one that presented him as a gaffe machine who couldn’t get out of his own way.

On another level, it’s the story of two campaign teams: a group of loyalists who found themselves frantically drinking from a fire hose after Perry’s leap into the race; and the nationally known veterans once described as riding to the rescue but later accused of traitorous conduct when a report quoted anonymous sources who gave a scathing assessment of Perry’s initial operation.

The divide was so deep that, as Perry’s standing plummeted, the old team declined to provide its internal opposition research file on the Texas governor’s potential vulnerabilities to the newcomers.

Although the period from Perry’s high-flying presidential campaign entry in Charleston, S.C., to his withdrawal in North Charleston spanned little more than five months, “it feels like two years,” said one source inside the campaign. Fitting for someone whose candidate wore his religion on his sleeve, the insider quoted Scripture, Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

It was a purpose that could get hard to see during the wild, oftentimes chaotic ride.

Texas swagger raised eyebrows

Republican voters were ready to fall in love with Perry when — after months of saying he wasn’t interested in running for president — he said in late May that he’d think about it. Less than three months later, he launched his candidacy in South Carolina on the same day as Iowa’s venerable presidential straw poll, an in-your-face move that alienated key Iowa Republicans but reflected Perry’s supremely confident air.

Perry soon learned how Texas swagger could create tremors on the trail when his intemperate remarks on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — including that “we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas” if he “prints more money” — raised eyebrows among those assessing Perry’s presidential stature.

Another lesson took longer to unfold. His dramatic entry still resonated months later with Iowa voters like Joyce Wheeler of Oskaloosa, but not the way he wanted. She found things to like about him but said, “He kind of just comes in the very last few weeks and wants to campaign. I feel like if he wanted his words to be heard, he should have been there at the straw poll.”

Perry’s team was creating a campaign organization and setting ambitious fundraising goals at the same time as the governor’s front-runner status put a target on his back, noted his communications director, Ray Sullivan.

Perry traveled frequently to raise money, building a $17 million war fund, and he prepared for debates. Preparation included a single mock debate and briefings that lasted up to two hours a day over several days, according to a source in the campaign. The governor, meanwhile, grew fatigued as he kept pace with a demanding schedule, coping with the lack of exercise necessitated by his July back surgery and a lack of sleep, the source said.

“I think the lack of sleep and the lack of exercise and the busy schedule caught up to him,” the insider said.

Dan Logue, a conservative California legislator who launched an early “Draft Perry” campaign, said Perry’s effort was seriously hampered by his recovery from back surgery, something the campaign flatly denied at the time.

“He came out of back surgery and was in intense pain for a few months,’’ Logue said. “That’s going to take its toll.”



Problems before the ‘oops’

When the debates commenced, Perry was a self-described piñata. He also sustained self-inflicted wounds well before the infamous “oops” moment when he could remember only two of the three federal departments he wanted to close. Perry sometimes seemed confused, as in this Florida tongue-twister: “I think Americans just don’t know sometimes which Mitt Romney they’re dealing with. Is it the Mitt Romney that was on the side of — against the Second Amendment before he was for the Second Amendment? Was it — was before — he was before the social programs, from the standpoint of — he was for standing up for Roe v. Wade before he was against Roe v. Wade? He was — uh — for Race to the Top, he’s for — Obamacare, and now he’s against it. I mean, we’ll wait until tomorrow and, and, and see which Mitt Romney we’re really talking to tonight.”

The campaign source said Perry had written the line out on the pad in front of him. “He just couldn’t get it out.”

Sullivan said the team was ready for attacks but, “I think the intensity and frequency of the attacks from the other candidates, and the intense scrutiny of the moderators was, perhaps naively, more than we expected.”

Team bickering

After his faltering debate performances drove down his poll numbers, Perry in late October brought aboard a team of tough political veterans, including Joe Allbaugh, former campaign manager for George W. Bush.

Discord between the old Texas team and new members grew as Allbaugh sidelined or marginalized longtime loyalists, including chief consultant Dave Carney, adviser Deirdre Delisi and campaign manager Rob Johnson. A campaign source said “Joe Allbaugh is a human sledgehammer.”

Another campaign source had a different view: “Governor Perry realized he was in trouble and realized he had to do something. But it was too late by then.”

As Perry sought to reboot after his “oops” moment, his campaign ran an ad that accused President Barack Obama of waging a war on religion and slammed allowing gay people to openly serve in the military. The ad deeply divided the Perry campaign team.

“The worst decision made in the entire campaign was airing an ad where they chose to turn the governor’s faith into a weapon,” said a campaign source. “It turned off some of the very people that Rick Perry should have been able to rely upon because it was so ham-handed. It was a typical approach by cynical Washington consultants.”

Another campaign source defended the ad: “Seventy percent of the Iowa caucus-goers agreed with the premise.”

Politico report

The feud blazed again publicly with a piece in Politico just days before the Iowa vote. The site reported that when the outsiders arrived, the campaign hadn’t tended to basics like focus-group polling, opposition research on their own candidate, and adequate debate preparation.

“There has never been a more ineptly orchestrated, just unbelievably subpar campaign for president of the United States than this one,” said someone identified in the piece only as a “senior Perry adviser.”

Sullivan called the matter “shocking,” pointing the finger at “more than one of our Washington consultants.” Two insiders called them “mercenaries.”

A campaign source with an opposing view said those who spoke with Politico were trying to steer the reporters from erroneous information such as an allegation that “campaign strategy calls are filled with gallows humor. Sometimes when you are trying to forestall a story, you create a story.”

One example of the distrust: While Politico reported assertions that there was no opposition research, others said Perry loyalists simply declined to share it with the newcomers.

“I think that, given their track record, was probably a wise decision,” said Sullivan, who added the consultants “got everything they needed.”

By then, the longtime Perry team had more problems. Fundraisers from New York to California said that the headquarters in Texas had not responded to repeated requests for information or assistance.

Dan Isaacs, the Republican Party chairman in New York County (Manhattan), helped organize New York events for Perry in June and October. But he said the campaign became unresponsive, and when Perry came to Manhattan in November, he did something almost unheard-of: He didn’t hold a fundraising event.

The campaign’s lack of attentiveness “ran off some of the out-of-state fundraisers,” one Perry ally said. “When he imploded, the money all dried up.”

The campaign’s end was foreshadowed in Iowa, when Perry came in fifth in the caucuses and announced he’d return to Texas to reassess — before tweeting the next morning that he was headed to South Carolina.

The campaign’s division was clear in the Hawkeye State, as consultants looked to Allbaugh, and the staff looked to campaign manager Rob Johnson, said the Texas supporter. That night, the staff gathered in the hotel bar to express appreciation for Johnson, with Allbaugh absent, said the Texas supporter.

“Rumor has it,” the volunteer said, “that the bar bill at the end of the night was put on Allbaugh’s room.”

Carla Marinucci contributed to this report from San Francisco; Jimmy Vielkind contributed from Albany.