Rick Perry versus Conventional Wisdom ......"Another thing we need to realize is that this primary process and the debates, while messy and ugly, are inoculating and strengthening our candidates by bringing everything out in the open and giving them an opportunity to hone their debate skills. One man who has taken full advantage of the opportunity is Texas Governor Rick Perry, who never debated very often while running for office in Texas.
And speaking of Rick Perry, he may be just the man to defy conventional wisdom and stand political punditry on its head. He might actually be able to run right up the middle of the field between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney the way John Kerry did in 2004 between then Democrat frontrunners Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt, according to George Will speaking on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
The strategy goes something like this; Romney has to go after Gingrich because Gingrich is now the frontrunner and drawing support from Romney. Gingrich will have to defend himself by attacking Romney, as we saw during the ABC-hosted debate in Iowa Saturday night. As the two frontrunners pick each other apart that leaves an opening for a true conservative with sufficient financial backing such as Rick Perry. And, it doesn’t hurt that Governor Perry found his sea legs Saturday night in Iowa and had his strongest debate showing to date."....