Pro-Perry group wants to spend $55 million

A new political group supporting Texas Governor Rick Perry's presidential campaign wants to spend $55 million to help Perry win the Republican party nomination.

Documents obtained by NBC News show the group, called "Make Us Great Again," plans to use TV advertising, direct mail and social media outreach and wants to spend heavily in key primary states. Make Us Great Again is what's known as a Super PAC, or super political action committee, which can raise unlimited amounts of money but which is technically independent from a campaign and legally blocked from "coordinating" with them.

From NBC:

If it realizes its goals, the super PAC — which calls itself "Make Us Great Again" — will likely eclipse the financial operations of Perry's official presidential campaign committee, according to some Republican consultants.

As a result, NBC reports that the Make Us Great Again documents show the important role that super PACs will play in the 2012 election.

"Look, these super PACs have changed the way presidential campaigns are run," Scott Reed, a veteran Republican strategist, said.

Make Us Great Again is being run by people with close ties to Perry and his campaign, making it similar to organizations set up to support President Barack Obama and Republicans Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Unlike the candidates' campaigns themselves, which can raise only $2,500 per donor, super PACs can take unlimited money from wealthy donors or directly from corporations. An unnamed Perry supporter told NBC News that "George 'Brint' Ryan, a wealthy Texas accountant and the co-founder with Toomey of Make Us Great Again, has pledged $500,000" for the group.

According to the documents, phase one of Make Us Great Again's strategy involves $5 million worth of advertising on Fox News and Iowa TV. Phase two involves spending $20 million on early primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, as well as in Florida and Nevada. And phase three involves spending $20 million on the next 20 primary states through March 24. After March 25, the group plans to spend an additional $10 million.

Jason Miller, a spokesman for Make Us Great Again, told NBC News that the documents were "outdated," and that the group's targeting and spending had since changed, without saying how. Ray Sullivan, chief spokesman for the Perry campaign, told NBC News he was "not familiar with Make Us Great Again and am unaware of their budget or intentions."