Rick Perry and Gardasil

In September, Michelle Bachman attacked Rick Perry’s financial ties to a

pharmaceutical firm (Merck) that manufactures the HPV vaccine Gardasil. These ties have proven to be problematic for Perry “whose bid for the White House depends heavily on support from religious conservatives,” a group that is generally opposed to the Gardasil vaccination. Perry, who received about $30,000 from Merck for his gubernatorial campaign, tried to make Gardasil mandatory for young girls in 2007 through an executive order. It is unclear if Merck donated to Perry because he occupied a favorable position (the political man model: he supported Gardasil even without the funds) or because they tried to influence his policies (the economic man model: he supported Gardasil in return for the funds). However, according to Mueller the distinction between the “political man” and the “economic man” collapses when campaign spending generates additional votes.

The article states that Perry has to balance between both the Business and the evangelical Christian wings of the Republican Party. However, to me it seems more like he has to balance between receiving campaign funds that will increase his opportunity to get elected (because of increased exposure) and alienating voters with the sources of these funds. By asking for clarifications about Perry’s policies Michelle Bachman’s accusations might have alienated voters opposed to Gardasil, just like Informational Campaigning can. However, she also used it as a form of Promotional campaigning by questioning his integrity and character and making him seem like an untrustworthy candidate, which at the end of the day will probably have a more detrimental effect for Perry’s campaign.