Posted on 06/26/2011 11:32:23 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
His team is still denying it, and people I know who know people on his team are also still denying it, but until Perrymania ebbs among the base I’m milking this buzz for easy content with both hands.
The important question now: Will new rumors about Perry getting in derail the momentum that’s building for Pataki 2012?
A Republican campaign veteran tells us that Texas Governor Rick Perry has decided to run for President, though the official word from Team Perry is still a definite maybe.
Our normally reliable Republican source reports that Mr. Perry has surveyed the field and decided to get in the race later this summer, perhaps around the time of the national prayer meeting that Mr. Perry is hosting on August 6 at a Houston football stadium. Our source also reports that Mr. Perry is aiming to compete in the Iowa Straw Poll, even though it occurs just a week later, on August 13. The thinking is that apparent front-runner Mitt Romney “does not reflect the Republican Party” and is therefore vulnerable to a credible challenge from the right, especially after Mr. Romney’s recent squishy remarks on global warming.
RCP reported last night that his advisors are quietly reaching out to operatives in New Hampshire too. Help me with the timeline here, though: He’s going to get in just a week before Ames, by which time he’ll presumably have done little or no campaigning in-state? Huh. That sounds nutty at first glance, but it actually could be a shrewd form of bet-hedging. If he jumps in now, goes all-out on the trail in Iowa, and ends up disappointing in the straw poll, the media will sink him with Fred Thompson “flash in the pan” comparisons. If he skips the straw poll altogether, though, Iowans might feel snubbed, especially with Bachmann and Pawlenty competing hard there. Perry can’t afford to alienate them; unlike Romney, he needs to do well in Iowa to have a path to the nomination. So he’s going to compromise — he’ll jump in shortly before the straw poll, hoping to ride the aftermath of his prayer event in Houston to a shockingly strong finish and then leverage that buzz into a major campaign. Conversely, if he does poorly, it’s no biggie. He’ll simply blame it on the fact that he’d only been in the race for a week and hadn’t spent much time in the state yet, etc. Lots of upside and little downside to this strategy, especially since (per Huckabee 2008) losing Ames doesn’t mean you’ll lose the caucuses.
The best sign that he’s running, perhaps: A whole new round of rumors that he’s gay being spread by his opponents. Ace wonders how the media rationalizes running stuff like that without any evidence, but we already know how from the Tucson shootings. First someone says, “The shooter must have been inspired by Palin’s crosshairs map,” then that non-fact starts to churn because it’s simply irresistible to the media as a capital-N Narrative, and then when it turns out there’s nothing to it, the coverage shifts to whether the Narrative is a political problem for its target even though it’s not true. Report the facts, and if the facts aren’t there for you, report the misperception of those facts because, hey, that’s a political fact on the ground too. “Will gay rumors hurt Perry on the trail?” thus becomes a handy way of spreading those rumors without fully taking responsibility for spreading them. Sleazy, but as I say, we’ve seen this before.
Ah yes, the infamous Ames vote auction...
Thanks...
Pataki? Might as well have Howard Stern run. He even got a highway rest area in New Jersey named after him.
Excerpts from Rick Perry’s book “Fed Up”
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39994237/ns/today-books/t/why-texas-gov-rick-perry-fed/
“We are fed up with a Department of Homeland Security that refuses to secure our borders, resulting in more than 10 million people living in our country illegally, thousands more coming in daily from all over the world, and almost 1,000 children being born in our country every day to parents who are here illegally.
We are fed up with being overtaxed and overregulated. We are tired of being told how much salt we can put on our food, what windows we can buy for our house, what kind of cars we can drive, what kinds of guns we can own, what kind of prayers we are allowed to say and where we can say them, what political speech we are allowed to use to elect candidates, what kind of energy we can use, what kind of food we can grow, what doctor we can see, and countless other restrictions on our right to live as we see fit.
We are fed up with bailout after bailout and stimulus plan after stimulus plan, each one of which tosses principle out the window along with taxpayer money.”
Run Rick! Run!
MSM will not give the the hall pass that Texas media have been passing out.
Making popcorn, this will be good.
You should see this thread and the Youtube Videos:
Keynes versus Hayek: Big government versus individual rights
Perry is not my first choice (Sarah is), but I would certainly prefer him over Mittens. Cain is a great idealog, but I dont see him making it out of March because of the lack of political experience. Should he become the nominee, I think the press would eviscerate him worse than any other candidate in modern memory, including Sarah.
Bachman is Sarah without the benefit of executive experience or already being vetted by the press. Pawlenty ... I almost forgot about him ... which is why he wont make the cut. Newt is already toasted and finding nobody wants to scrape the charcoal off his campaign. Paul is Paul ... he’s like the frat boy that goes to college because he likes the parties. Paul likes to run, but has no chance of winning.
I actually see Perry hurting Romney more than anyone else (which is a very good thing), and the ticket eventually being either Palin/Perry or Perry/Palin. I could get enthusiastic about either.
This is from 3 days ago....there already is a thread on this from HotAir
Yep multiple postings happen a lot don’t they regardless of the event or candidate involved.
The Republican pols can all smell blood in the water.
May the best woman, Sarah Palin, win. There IS only one Sarah Palin. Bob
Perry didn’t even support the Az. law, which is tepid. So please don’t tell me that Perry is strong on border control! Bob
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