POWER MOVE

Perry Super PAC to Spend $55 Million

GOP candidate surges ahead of Romney in new poll.

Who said more money equals more problems? A super PAC backing Texas Gov. Rick Perry for president in 2012 plans to spend as much as $55 million to help him secure the Republican nomination, according to documents obtained by NBC News. The group, called Make Us Great Again, could spend even more than Perry’s official presidential-campaign committee, and $55 million is about as much as the total amount raised by all the other Republican candidates combined during the first six months of the year. Meanwhile, a new Washington Post–ABC News poll shows Perry surging past Mitt Romney to lead the GOP nomination race, edging the former Massachusetts governor 27 percent to 22 percent, followed by Sarah Palin at 14 percent, Ron Paul at 8 percent, and Michele Bachmann at 6 percent.