Posted on 09/26/2011 6:09:39 AM PDT by Sudetenland
When Texas Governor Rick Perry entered the race for the Republican nomination he struck like a bolt of lightning, driving all of his competition off the front pages and seemed likely to drive them out of the race in short order. He sky-rocketed into the lead in every poll of Republican voters that was taken.
His announcement speech resonated with a Republican electorate desperate for a true, small-government, conservative to rescue the party and our nation from the mire of spiraling debt, over-reaching—do-gooder—legislators, and federal programs run by bureaucracies that seemed intent on controlling ever more aspects of citizen's lives.
His straight talk and uncompromising rhetoric, certain to upset establishment Republicans and offend the left and their propaganda organ—the MSM—was a breath of fresh air for conservatives. Amid the morass of mediocre, compromise at any cost, milquetoast solutions being offered by more moderate politicians, his enthusiasm for the 10th Amendment and his promise to "work every day to make sure that Washington DC is as inconsequential to [our] lives as possible." gave hope to many who had become disenchanted by the status quo and his 10-year record of accomplishment gave proof to his rhetoric and over-shadowed the records of his fellow conservative candidates.
Governor Perry seemed a candidate who was tailor-made to seize the reins of the Republican Party and steer it to a landslide victory in November 2012. For a short while, he looked likely to win the nomination by acclamation.
Isn't it interesting how rapidly things can change in politics? After three debates in the space of two short weeks, the bloom may be fading on Perry's rose.
My initial enthusiasm for Governor Perry would have had me jumping on board the "Perry for President" train, but prudence suggested that it was too early to endorse any candidate. That is the reason that, though I have been very supportive of Texas Governor Rick Perry and have defended him against the many scurrilous attacks on his record, I have not come out and endorsed his candidacy in the GOP primary.
With each debate, I (and many other conservatives) have been experiencing a growing discomfort with Governor Perry's performance. Florida's Thursday night debate was his third debate and with each appearance, he has gotten progressively worse as his opponents have improved.
Before the he entered the race, it was rumored that Perry was not a great debater and that he did not like debate preparation. If this is true—and all subsequent evidence points to it being so—then he had better get his act together.
For much of the electorate, the snippets of these debates that are played on nightly news programs will be all they see, their only opportunity to gain insight into the candidates character and ability and every stumble Governor Perry makes will be amplified by a hostile press. He cannot afford to continue trying to gut his way through without thorough preparation.
Governor Perry needs to learn to dance if his candidacy is to survive, but so far he has appeared to be disconcerted, petty, and out of his depths in responding to the tough questions and the attacks of his fellow candidates. He looks more like a student trying desperately to remember the lines he memorized that morning—eyes shifting back and forth, hesitating, and using convoluted grammar that renders his responses difficult to understand—than he does a knowledgeable candidate with a mastery of the issues put before him.
It is true that these debates are just TV shows, more of entertainment value than of value in selecting a candidate, or in demonstrating one's ability to govern and I have long thought that Republicans should never have allowed themselves to be snookered into holding debates. They tend to be nothing more than beauty contests.
Debates do, however provide us with a good indicator of how intellectually agile a candidate is. They are not a measure of a candidate's intelligence, but they are a measure of how well a candidate can put their intellect to use.
The ability to deal with a suddenly changing situation and to respond in a rational and measured way is a very important part of being President and so far all I've seen from Perry are generalized answers (as though his ideas are only half formulated), stumbling, off target, knee-jerk attacks, and semi-intelligible explanations of some of his more controversial stands.
It is that inability to clearly articulate why he believes as he does, and to respond to attacks—especially erroneous attacks like that of Rick Santorum on Texas border security last Thursday—with clear, concise facts that is killing him.
Perry said that he was "a solid 'C' student" at TAMU and his academic records clearly show that. So far, Perry's performance reflects that record. The primary difference between a "C" student and an "A" student isn't as much of a difference in their intelligence as it is a difference in their willingness to do the "grind work;" the boring daily homework assignments and study from which most knowledge is gained. If he is to win the nomination and the election, Governor Perry needs to break out of his "C" student mold and learn to learn.
Perry needs to demonstrate mastery of some of the issues and real facility in discussing all of them. That ability doesn't just manifest itself in people by osmosis, it requires real dedication to study and practice.
It's been two weeks since his first debate. By now he should have ready answers to the immigration issue, the border issue, the Social Security issue, the Gardasil issue, and the AGW issue, because all have been broached repeatedly since the first debate—and were prominently mentioned prior to his entry into the race.
Perry is not running for Governor of Texas now, he is on the national stage and the clever one-line zingers that we get routinely here in Texas don't play as well in other areas of the nation. He has to nationalize his campaign style without compromising his values and stance on the issues.
He may be able to pull it off, but he had better start soon.
There are a lot of us who have been strong supporter that are now having some doubts as to his dedication and ability. It is early yet, but the clock is ticking.
Governor Perry's next opportunity to redeem himself comes on October 11th (7 PM EDT) at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and he better come out firing on all 8 cylinders, or he could be finished.
Long Live Our American Republic!!!
The next debate will not make Perry, but it could very well break him.
Perry is a perfect candidate if you can get past being an ex Gore Democrat who panders to illegals and hispanics and then calls conservatives heartless. Other than that he is a great candidate.
Texas Media has been giving Perry “hall passes” for years.
When he tries to run with the big dogs they won’t.
just out of curiosity, who’s your candidate?
He’s toast. He insulted the real conservatives when he told us we are heartless not to educate illegal immigrants or give them cheapter tuition than Americans. HOw anyone could even consider this guy is outrageous. Illegals are the main reason our country is falling apart!!!
Romney has staked his candidacy on the supposition that primary voters are clamoring for a progressive, Rockefeller Republican to lead them. He formulated this strategy when Obama was riding high and all the smart people were saying Republicans had to be more like Democrats to have any hope of winning. Now he's stuck with it. Unfortunately for him circumstances have changed. Pale pastels are the last thing Republicans need or want and Romney is fatally out of step with the times.
Romney can't win the nomination and neither can any other candidate in the race, except Governor Perry. Perry may seem improbable right now given his awkward debates, but everyone else is impossible. Without a plausible opponent, Perry will surely win.
That's why the usual establishment suspects are still feverishly searching for a new candidate. If Mitt had a prayer, nobody would be agitating for Governor Christie to enter the race at this late date after he has denied any interest for many months. Nobody would be trying to pump air back into the Mich Daniels balloon. Next up The Return of John Thune. Without somebody new Perry will be the nominee, and the progressive Republican establishment both knows it and hates it.
Debating skills have nothing to do with being flat wrong on immigration. Perry DQ'ed himself. He's toast.
And all that proved, like Bachmann's short-lived poll bounce also showed, is that the voting public is hungry for a "not Romney" that they can get behind. A big surge shortly after announcing, because this entry may be "the one", followed by an equally rapid crash as the bloom comes off the rose.
Romney gains and loses ground proportionally to the challenger du jour, but his own support number is pretty stable -- all of these short-term moves have had minimal effect on his own actual support, which means that he's likely already topped-out.
That said, I look at the field, and all I see is weakness. Should the situation remain as such, Romney's cash and establishment connections will probably carry the day, despite the voters' complete lack of enthusiasm (or trust).
We need somebody who's been out into the world and knows more than "sending a couple of Texas Rangers to the border" to keep this country from turning into Mexico or getting nuked by jihadists.
On just that point; Reagan also used to be a Democrat. That wouldn’t automatically disqualify Perry in my eyes.
I have no desire to consider or reconsider Rick Perry. He is not in line with what I want from a President.
His position on illegals and his foolish use of an executive order makes him defunct.
GET OUT NOW!
YOU'RE DONE!
You need to ask:
(1) Would Perry be better than Obama? IMHO, an easy “YES!”
and
(2) Is Perry the best of the field of candidates we actually have? IMHO, a much tougher question.
I’d really like to know if a President Perry would veto a border-fence bill sent to him from Congress. Or would he sign and faithfully execute such a law, regardless of his personal feelings.
Definitely. And it was the same problem in 08. Conservatism seems to be utterly lacking leadership. No wonder the Tea Party is a leaderless movement. There ARE no leaders available.
I don’t know and frankly, I don’t give a damn.
I guess I am heartless.
” Perry needs to demonstrate mastery of some of the issues and real facility in discussing all of them. “
There are several major thoughts in your article, and your above quote seems to be one of the major ones, IMHBACO.
Perhaps we do need a glib, polished, song-and-dance, con-man to sell us the snake oil of the European Style Socialism ( ESS ) that has done so much terrible harm to our Republic in the almost 80 years from FDR to Obama. BUT HOW WOULD THAT GET US OUT OF THE TERRIBLE DEBT THAT THE GWB AND OBAMA ADMINISTRATIONS HAVE GIVEN US ?
We already now have a ESS snake-oil conman in the White House. We have had GDB as a talker but not a walker. We are reeling in the red ink of the ESS true believers. Enough!
What the hostile MSM calls “both parties” is really only one party: The Debtocrats, based on what they do and not on what they say.
What we need is a leader to lead us out of THE VALLEY OF DEBT !
No more soft-shoe! No more “ Don’t say that or you might offend Group X. “
This is it! We are done as a Nation if we do not elect a President in 2012 who will put into practice Economics Rule Number One: WHEN YOUR OUTGO EXCEEDS YOUR INCOME YOUR UPKEEP WILL BE YOUR DOWNFALL.
Wring your hands about how your tidy little con artist looks or sounds on the idiot box. I’ll take the roll-up-his-sleeves, git-’er-done kinda guy in 2012.
Does a candidate crawfish on an earlier position ? Does he or she cave-in to the demands of the true-believers of spurious issues ? These are the questions that I will ask as the long National campaign continues. These are the “Titanium Backbone” questions for me.
The central problem in the United States of America today is the U. S. Federal Government. The central problem with the U. S. Federal Government is that it has created a National Debt so large that it is crushing the incentive for Americans to create work, work, work, and thus, jobs, jobs, jobs.
Live within your means America, or continue to elect fancy con artists as you have for eight decades who will then continue to increase the personal debt of our grandchildren.
Solve the problem the same way as we balance our own checkbook balances: live within our means.
You need to ask:
(1) Would Perry be better than Obama? IMHO, an easy “YES!”
and
(2) Is Perry the best of the field of candidates we actually have? IMHO, a much tougher question.
I’d really like to know if a President Perry would veto a border-fence bill sent to him from Congress. Or would he sign and faithfully execute such a law, regardless of his personal feelings.
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