Posted on 07/25/2011 7:53:48 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Supposedly he was set to declare even earlier but decided to wait until after the Ames straw poll. Why rush into Iowa if you’re not on the ballot and half the big names in the field can’t be bothered to compete?
While Perry has focused on determining whether he can raise the funds necessary to run a credible campaign, his strategists have begun locking down verbal commitments from vendors and other potential top staff who would fill out a campaign organization. One who was contacted about a senior staff position was told, “This is a 99 percent sure thing.” Another said he was told, “He is 100 percent in.” That wouldn’t seem to leave much margin of error, but a third vendor who was approached said that while Perry’s political circle is lining up a staff, they are doing so without knowing what Perry’s final call will be…
Sources steeped in Texas politics also told RCP that Perry has made follow-up calls to many of his own state’s biggest donors to inform them that he is running so he can confirm the level of financial commitment he can count on from them. That may be to determine what his overall funding will look like in the early stages of a campaign so he can figure out how to structure his organization — and have a strong one in place by the time he announces…
A source with knowledge of Team Perry’s plans told RCP last week that an announcement had been planned for the second week in August, just days after the governor is scheduled to host a “day of prayer and fasting for our nation’s challenges” on Aug. 6 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
Those tentative plans may have been scrapped for the later window in conjunction with more recent developments about the straw poll. Perry will not be listed as a choice on the ballot, and it has become clear that it was getting to be too late to prepare for what is mostly a display of organizational heft.
How serious a contender is he? According to ARG’s new poll of Republican likely voters in Florida, this serious:
Not a statistically significant lead but, given that it’s a swing state and he’s not yet in the race, it’s a politically significant one. Hard to say where his support’s coming from since there’s a lot of movement there from May to July. Huckabee dropped out, Gingrich cratered, Bachmann surged, and Romney went from leading by 12 to … trailing by one. That’s actually a bigger story than Perry’s lead, I think: The new guy might be a passing fad, juiced by Rush Limbaugh talking him up and Thompson-esque buzz about his true-conservative credentials, but Romney’s pulling just 15 percent now compared to a combined 55 percent for the tea-party bloc of Perry, Palin, Bachmann, and Cain. My gut about Florida is that its Republican base is more RINO-ish than other states’ — McCain won there, didn’t he? — but maybe that’s not true anymore. If it were, we’d have Senator Crist instead of Senator Rubio. Romney’s gameplan all along has been to win New Hampshire and Nevada and then face a Florida death match against whichever tea partier emerges from the other side of the field, but how does that gameplan look given numbers like these? (On the other hand, the runaway winner among Florida Republicans who’ll “probably,” not “definitely,” vote next year is, er, Rudy Giuliani with 25 percent.) As I write this, InTrade puts Perry’s odds at the nomination at 32.8 percent. Romney’s odds? 29.3 percent. Hmmmmmm.
Exit question: Is this actually short-term good news for Pawlenty? Long-term it’s horrible since it means he’ll have another formidable social conservative to cope with in the caucuses, but he’s in dire enough straits that he can’t think long-term now. He’s thinking about the straw poll to jump-start his campaign, and the more buzz there is about Perry leading up to that, the more misgivings some “soft” Bachmann supporters may have about voting for her. In fact, “Americans for Perry” is urging people to write him in; if enough erstwhile Bachmann voters do that, it’ll improve T-Paw’s margin against her and finally finally finally give him some traction.
So you're willing to hoist up the white flag and let the libs both vindicate and celebrate the success of their Alinsky tactics?
When Gov. Palin endorsed Rick Perry
for Gov. Texas, that was not for POTUS.
One doubts she was fully aware of his prolific pro-BIGPHARMA
and pro-illegal alien core that was created in the
offices of Al Gore and Karl Rove.
I can see those independents flocking to the polls now. They’re all chanting - Sarah, Sarah...
If she’s in, then Perry better not step in her way.
But I do agree with you about her firing up the base if she decides to opt out...
...but I don’t think she will let the opportunity of a lifetime to run for President pass her on by, so it’s a mute point.
I listen to the Dan Patrick Show on KSEV. He’s a State Senator here in TX and will probably run for KBH’s seat. He talks about this some on his program...as if its pretty much a done deal. Sound to me as if Palin and Perry are close enough that if he is making certain waves to run...he (Perry) is certain she isn’t. They are very close friends and she would have told him.
That might be true, but until I hear it officially from Sarah, Perry is in her way for her to become President.
If you like open borders, you will love Rick Perry.
And the Arizona immigration law passed last year? “It's not for Texas,” says Perry
Statements like these drive me insane. So you want her to fire up the base, huh? She's alright for firing up the base as long as it is for someone else and not herself? Frankly, if she has that much power to fire up the base, why wouldn't she use that for her own election campaign? You people are grasping at straws!
Big difference in endorsing him for Governor (against an even worse RINO) than for President.
It isn’t the endorsement but the things she said about him in the endorsement. Are they true or was Palin being less than truthful?
Things like:
**Rick Perry is true to conservative principles even when others think the party needs to go a different direction.
**He does what is right regardless of whether it is popular.
**He walks the walk of a true conservative.
**Not every child is born into ideal circumstances, but every life is sacred. Rick Perry knows this – it is at the core of his being.
**Will you join me in supporting a true conservative for governor – Rick Perry?
**Rick Perry is proven and principled.
When Gov. Palin endorsed Rick Perry
for Gov. Texas, that was not for POTUS.
Okay I agree with that. My question is the great things she said about Perry in the endorsement for Governor, where they true or was Palin being less than truthful? It’s not the endorsement but what she said about him in the endorsement...
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