Anita Perry Defends Her Husband's Debate Performance

Anita Perry, wife of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, told a conservative breakfast club Wednesday it's hard for her to watch other Republicans attack her husband in debates.

"I feel like he's a target," the Texas first lady told about 100 people at the West Side Conservatives Breakfast Club meeting at the .

Noting that they've been in the presidential race only 45 days, she likened her husband to the pretty blonde who moves to a new school "and the quarterback breaks up with his girlfriend to date the new girl." 

"The purpose (of other candidates attacks on Perry) is to throw him off message because he's leading in the polls," she said. That doesn't make it any easier for her to watch, however.

Although she said the last thing she tells him before he goes out to debate is "just be yourself," she said debate formats make it impossible for him to both defend himself and express his message in a 30-second response.

"He has never had a debate coach, never had training in debates," she said, indicating that would change before the next debate.

Anita Perry is no stranger to politics. Her husband's been running for political office since their two adult children were small. She has been described as a stabilizing force in her husband's life, according to a profile of her on npr.org. 

Dressed in high-heeled pumps and a pumpkin-colored jacket over a black  dress, Perry seemed comfortable addressing the group, making a few remarks and then agreeing to take questions.

She is making several appearances in Iowa this week. She spoke about how the two first met when she was 6 and he was 8 and they sat next to each other at a piano recital. He asked her to a football game when he was 16 and she was 14, according to the National Public Radio profile, but it would be 16 years of on-and-off dating before they married, she said. 

She described her husband as "genuine, authentic" and "what you see is what you get."

Even though she said she encouraged her husband to run, she said she wasn't quite prepared for the scrutiny of a national campaign for president.

"I thought I was pretty seasoned, but I've never seen anything like this. Any little thing you say, everything you've done, is examined. There's nothing that we've done that we're embarrassed about, but I wasn't prepared for the scrutiny and intensity."