Sex With Rick Perry? Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Have you -- male or female -- ever had sex with Rick Perry? That's what an ad placed in a Texas newspaper wants to know.

The full-page ad, placed in the Austin Chronicle by conspiracy theorist Robert Morrow, asks, "Are you a stripper, an escort, or just a 'young hottie' impressed by an arrogant, entitled governor of Texas?" It promises to help respondents "publicize your direct dealings with a Christian-buzzwords-spouting, 'family values' hypocrite and fraud." And at the it says, "Note to gay people: If you know the truth about Rick Perry, please QUIT covering for him."

Perry, who announced his run for the Republican presidential nomination last weekend, has been the subject of gay rumors in years past; in June several political websites reported on the rumors, which the staunchly antigay Perry rebutted in a 2004 interview.

The Perry campaign was quick to denounce Morrow, who has asserted, among other things, that George H.W. Bush was involved in President John F. Kennedy's assassination and threatened to kill 1992 presidential opponent Ross Perot, reports the Houston Chronicle (not connected with the Austin Chronicle). Of the ad, Perry spokesman Mark Miner said, "It's political garbage from an individual who is not stable."

The Houston paper added, "The campaign appeared to be ready for Morrow, however, as campaign-friendly sources that Miner did not want to identify produced a lengthy response developed around Morrow's Internet blog postings." The response asks readers, "before taking any of Robert Morrow's rantings seriously," to review his "many colorful theories."

Read more here.