Ads Infinitum: Perry Answers With Border Ad

Now U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison isn't the only one talking about border issues on television. Gov. Rick Perry has released his ad, "Border", in advance of tonight's GOP gubernatorial debate. He's appearing with members of the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition in his latest spot, which appears to feature some recycled footage from 2006. 

You might remember the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition from our stories about Perry's border camera project. Perry has given the group $4 million since 2008 to operate Web cameras on the border, an endeavor Perry promised to start during his 2006 re-election campaign. He said then he would spend $5 million to line the border with hundreds of cameras. The actual project under the Sheriff's Coalition has fallen short of that lofty goal. Last time we checked, there were 18 cameras on the border. And they hadn't resulted in much law enforcement activity — about 11 arrests in the first year the cameras were going — or in much Web traffic. These, of course, are statistics Hutchison hasn't missed.