At last Thursday’s Ames debate, there was a particular word missing: jobs. Sure, the candidates touched on the economy a bit. But mostly it seemed the debate strayed into other (arguably less important) issues, such as whether Iran should have nukes. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think Iran should have nukes, but at a time when unemployment is still over 9%, you’d think jobs would be the top issue. Yet, it wasn’t. It’s almost as if all the candidates had agreed to not discuss the issue.

I think it was a mistake. Instead of using the time to let each candidate make their case for them as the job creators, the candidates and debate hosts missed an opportunity to highlight that issue. Now Rick Perry, who has long been touted as the uber-job creator, has entered the race, and I think every other candidate will need to begin to stake their claim to the role.

Having missed one chance to establish their cred as job makers before a national audience, Rick Perry will have both a period of high media awareness due to his entering the raced, followed by a couple more weeks to travel around and tell his story. Then he’ll have his first national audience in September, where, if the right questions are asked (and assuming Perry is participating), Perry will immediately be able to jump in to the fray with his real experience creating jobs. I think even Michelle Bachmann will have a tough time trying to make a successful case. Her job creation record is, err, slow to develop. Thus is the fate of any Representative, who have only begun to have some victories in Congress. Perry, meanwhile, has been creating jobs for years.

I think if any other candidate is to defeat Perry on the jobs issue, they need to get in front of cameras now. They need to talk to real people, of course, but they need a media blitz to spread their message. I hope they won’t develop the camera-phobia that plagues folks like Sarah Palin, because it will be campaign-ending if they do. Get in front of people, get in front of the cameras, and explain why they’re the job candidate.

Candidates: You have less than a month to put a stake into the jobs issue before the Reagan Library debate. Get going. Don’t walk. Run!