federal candidates, but the super PAC is required to be completely independent from the campaign. Make Us Great Again was created and headed by Mike Toomey, who had been Perry's chief of staff. This arrangement was criticized as illegal by Fred Wertheimer, the president of the watchdog group Democracy 21, who said, "The idea that such a PAC is going to be independent from the campaign is ridiculous." Perry's former legislative director, Dan Shelley, is also running a pro-Perry super PAC. Perry's longstanding feud with Karl Rove may be another factor in his Super PAC fundraising, as Rove is a key advisor to many major Republican donors. Perry took the fundraising lead in his first reporting period. The biggest source of his donations was from employees of George Brint Ryan's tax and accounting firm. As of January 16, 2012, the PAC had spent $3.96 million on promoting Perry's campaign. September 2011: Early struggles in debates Perry's performances in the GOP debates received generally poor reviews from the media. His botched attempt to criticize Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper in a debate held in Orlando, Florida was described as a "spectacular failure." His speech was so garbled that Mark Hemingway of the Weekly Standard asked if Perry had suffered a stroke, and Brit Hume of Fox News stated that Perry, "at a time when he needed to raise his game, I mean, he did worse, it seems to me, than he had done in previous debates." However, Paul Burka, senior executive editor at Texas Monthly, said "Eventually the debates will end, and retail politics will take center stage. I think Perry will have an advantage in that format because he is better at the meet-and-greet and connecting with people than Mitt Romney is." Perry lost many conservatives' support when he defended the Texas policy of allowing in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants. He said during one debate that those who opposed financially supporting their education didn't "have a heart." He was later forced to spend much of time on the campaign trail defending the law, saying it was compassionate conservatism, was a state-only issue, and was well-intentioned because it would turn those citizens into productive, taxpaying members of society. After he mishandled a question about how he would respond to a "3am call" as president, Perry's advisers insisted that he get more sleep before the remaining debates. However, Alex