Free Republic

The five reasons I asserted that Governor Perry would have the best shot at beating Obama were simple ones: He decisively created more jobs than Obama. He greatly respects and tries to encourage small businesses. He has a clear understanding of federalism and what states shouldn't be forced into. He has solid core convictions that replicate most of America. And he could unite the core conservative Democrats, Republicans and Independents across the nation on economic, social and defense policy. All five of those reasons remain -- even now -- solidly relevant and valid. However, he's certainly nowhere near where I...

By facing the issue and joking about it, Perry frames his gaffe as a funny moment rather than a serious, and seriously stupid, one. He takes control of the discussion. Every minute he's on the air being interviewed about it is one more minute his moment isn't being replayed, one more minute some panel of pundits isn't fretfully analyzing its stupendous terribleness. By allowing his memory glitch to be the topic of discussion and owning up to it, he helps exhaust the subject. Most of all, Perry is being humanized, albeit not in the way any politician would wish. For...

After debate flub, Perry recalls Britney Spears song ‘Oops!…I Did It Again’ Caroline May November 10, 2011 ....On Laura Ingraham’s radio show Thursday, Perry sheepishly recalled the incident explaining it was a “brain freeze” that felt hours long. “A brain freeze for 54 seconds, it seemed like 54 hours. Listen, I stepped in it and I’m still wiping it off my boots,” he said. “You know I think a bunch of Americans would be pretty happy to forget big chunks of the federal government.” Perry said that it is always good to laugh at your flubs and with that in...

he Perry campaign wants to reboot, having retooled and refined its message and tried hard to get back on the jobs message. Okay, fine, but first the Perry camp needs to answer a basic question — why should supporters who went all in for him and wound up feeling burned give him a second shot? I asked him about that and it was, perhaps, a good sign that he stayed on the jobs message. The jobs message, though, raises a question about his flat tax — won't it just help the rich? Also, what about President Obama's approach and his...

JOHNSTON, Iowa — It’s not enough to say Washington has gone too far with job-killing regulations and reckless spending. Rick Perry now wants to destroy the nation’s capital as we know it. The 2012 presidential hopeful, seeming to channel his 2010 riffs, is sharpening his anti-Washington rhetoric in speeches, op-eds and interviews. In town hall meetings this week in first-test Iowa, where Perry is hoping to stage a comeback from single-digit poll numbers, the Texas governor has been using bold language to illustrate his disdain for the spendthrift, DC-Beltway culture. He started out saying he was going to take a...

Rick Perry can still spring a huge surprise and mount a comeback to become the Republican candidate to face President Barack Obama at the ballot box next year, influential pollster Scott Rasmussen tells Newsmax.TV in an exclusive interview. The Texas governor has made a lot of unforced errors in his campaign, but the spot as the “anti-Mitt Romney” is still open, he said. Now Perry must hope that Herman Cain continues to stumble as the spotlight falls on the former pizza magnate following his rise to the top of the polls. “The thing that would help Rick Perry the most...

WASHINGTON – Rick Perry, after calling Mitt Romney a “fat cat,” today also called on the former Massachusetts governor to release his income tax returns, an indication that Perry will increasingly make an issue of Romney’s wealth in the Republican presidential primary. The strong charges from Perry are striking coming from a candidate who himself two months ago accused President Obama of “trying to engage in class warfare and shooting high-powered bullets at people who have corporate jets.” Now, as Perry tries to gain an edge on Romney – by far the wealthiest candidate in the race – the Texas...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry tonight, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, previewed his tax and spending plan, officially called the “cut, balance and grow” plan, which aims to revamp the tax code, balance the budget, reform entitlement programs and create jobs. “The folks in Washington might not like to hear it, but the plain truth is the U.S. government spends too much. Taxes are too high, too complex, and too riddled with special interest loopholes. And our expensive entitlement system is unsustainable in the long run,” Perry wrote in the Wall Street Journal. “Without significant change quickly, our...

Michele Bachmann's New Hampshire campaign staff is definitely gone, even though Bachmann said she didn't know about it. The news that all five of Bachmann's paid staffers in New Hampshire had quit broke on Friday, but when Radio Iowa approached Bachmann for comment, she said all was well. "That is a shocking story to me," she said. "I don't know where that came from. We have called staff in New Hampshire to find out where that came from and the staff have said that isn't true, so I don't know if this is just a bad story that's being fed...

The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s presidential forum unofficially marked a critical time for candidates in Iowa to start sealing the deal with Iowa’s ample number of social conservatives. It’s hard to say that some candidates won, while others lost. For the most part, all the candidates did well. Some just stood out more than others. For an event that attracted scores of media and six presidential candidates, the most important people in the room were the activists who sat through the five-hour event. The Super Bowl takes less time if you don’t count parking, but even that event allows...

A reenergized Rick Perry ventured to Washington today, telling a group of about 50 K Street insiders that he is stepping up his game after taking an "ass kickin'" this fall, according to the National Journal's Chris Frates. Perry, who is struggling to regain momentum after his campaign's initial "love fest," kept himself in the game with this week, reporting strong fundraising numbers and putting up an improved performance during Tuesday's debate. But his fundraising has reportedly taken a hit, and the Texas Governor still has a tough slog ahead as he tries to claw his way back to the...

Gov. Perry is On Track to Create a Million Jobs Raymond Richman and Howard Richman October 22, 2011 Republican presidential candidate, Gov. Rick Perry, says his energy plan will "kick start economic growth: and create 1.2 million jobs," and he is correct.  He revealed his "Energizing American Jobs and Security" plan in an October 14 speech at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh, saying, "We are standing atop the next American economic boom ... energy.... But we can only do that if environmental bureaucrats are told to stand down."He pointed out: America has proven but untapped supplies of natural gas,...

Tampa, Florida - If you're a student trying to earn a degree in anthropology, or even journalism, Governor Rick Scott says don't bother. He says if the state is to compete for the best jobs, he wants students focusing on science, engineering, and math. Governor Scott says Florida needs more graduates in high tech fields so companies will consider relocating to the Sunshine State. But he's being criticized for his idea to shift tax dollars away from liberal arts majors like anthropology and journalism. Natalie Odom is majoring in mass communications at the University of South Florida. She says, "I...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said today he would never announce a date for a troop withdrawal from Iraq, the way President Obama did, but one thing he didn’t care to keep secret was what he called his “long love affair” with guns. Perry, speaking before heading off for a pheasant hunt with Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, at Loess Hills Hunting Preserve in Merrill, Iowa, implied that Obama may be putting American troops at risk by announcing that there will be a full U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by the end of the year. “Most importantly you don’t tell the enemy what...

WASHINGTON - Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the self-proclaimed outsider vowing to make federal government "as inconsequential in your life as I can," huddled privately in the nation's capital Friday with the consummate insiders - lobbyists, trade association executives, foreign policy experts and hefty campaign donors, including veterans of past GOP presidential campaigns and administrations. The campaign declined to disclose the governor's schedule...

AS VEGAS — The good news continued for Herman Cain Friday, as the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO won the Western Republican Leadership Conference straw poll of GOP presidential contenders, edging out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — and leaving Texas Gov. Rick Perry in a distant fifth place.

Cain 37% Romney 27% Ron Paul 12% Perry 6% 86% say they're somewhat or very satisfied with the current GOP field. Univ of Iowa Poll Press Release 102111

In a new web site, in a controversial ad that was launched and then quickly pulled from sight, and in Tuesday’s now infamous debate touching episode, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney is handling rival Rick Perry as if the Texas governor’s poll numbers were not at a paltry single-digit. With mounting evidence, he is, in short, treating Perry like Perry has Herman Cain’s numbers. [snip] If Romney can fatally weaken Perry now, it would allow him to dominate in the early primaries. Strategically, a strong showing in the Iowa caucuses would be followed by an anticipated victory in the New...

Texas governor meeting Friday with Washington insiders after big fundraising dropoff. By Reid Wilson and Peter Bell Texas Gov. Rick Perry kicked off his presidential campaign with an aggressive fundraising schedule that quickly made him a front-runner for the Republican nomination. But reports his campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission show that his ability to attract big money fell off steeply in September—perhaps not coincidentally—at the same time a series of rocky debate performances threatened his early front-runner status. As Perry arrives on Friday in Washington for a private meeting with K Street insiders, the question is whether he...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's Republican presidential campaign chartered a private jet used in a cocaine-smuggling ring. Perry's campaign rented a Gulfstream III jet owned by Marquez Brothers International, The Wall Street Journal first reported.