Posted on 12/12/2011 9:14:59 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
When Rick Perry jumped into the race, many of us expected his skill at retail politicking to swamp the field in Iowa and perhaps run away with the nomination. Instead, a series of debate blunders and a lack of engagement in Iowa produced a stalled campaign struggling in the second tier. Perry admits that a back surgery in July took a bigger toll on his campaign than previously acknowledged, but that’s no excuse for the errors:
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Q: How is your back?
A: My back is great. I’m back running again for the last six weeks. I think part of the reason you have seen a somewhat different candidate on the debates is my health, and (I’m) both physically and mentally just back in the game. You have fusion on your back, and it takes you a while to get back on your game.
Q: So were you not feeling good in those early debates?
A: I would suggest to you that I was pretty fatigued. No excuses. It was error. It’s what it is. Look, if anybody is looking for the perfect candidate, I’m not it.
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I had a conversation about this over the weekend in Des Moines with a couple of friends before the debate. I’ve had back surgery — a laminectomy/disc evacuation, not a fusion, which is more serious — and five years later, I still have problems standing in one spot for a lengthy period of time.
[snip]
......Over the last few weeks, though, Perry has managed to right the ship and perform better in the debates. He’s also going on the campaign trail in Iowa, getting back to the retail politicking at which he normally excels. Can he convince Iowa voters to give him a second chance? Perry’s performance in the debate at least left him that opening, and we’ll see if he’s feeling physically fit enough to produce enough charisma to woo caucus-goers back to his banner.
The stumbling, fumbling occasionally drunk-sounding Perry is not the same as the governor I’ve seen for the past decade. But it is possible that whatever pain medicine he has been on for his back surgery, while making his back feel better, has other effects on him, especially if he has a drink or two.
Total conjecture on my part but I’ve had a few brushes with pain meds and you can get in trouble really fast if you don’t respect the potential side effects. It might explain some (not all) of the gaffes he made last August/September.
Lack of spine, brain stem, frontal lobe...
The excuse machine is now fully operational, he’ll be blaming Bush next.
Perry’s campaign so far is reminiscent of Pete Wilson in
96. Perfectly good candidate with an actual record, lots of eager anticipation, then, surgery that took its toll. We’ll see if Perry has time to recover before the actual voting takes place.
As well as MSM and other GOP candidates' efforts to diminish. But it ain't over 'till it's over -- as you well know judging by your efforts to continue the smear.
Yeah, that’s his turtle shell. Wish I had had a tailor to alter all my suits when I had one. Terrible thing - makes it difficult to perform adequate personal hygiene.
I had fusion. The time leading up to it was the most painful, debilitating time of my life.
Uh, it looks like Perry has the best spine of them all. I’ll take him. He has the guts to take on the EPA and trial lawyers.
When I had the blown disk, standing was excruciatingly painful after a while. Like a red hot poked jamming into your lower back, then running down your leg to your toes. Actually, he couldn’t have stood for an hour before the surgery I’d wager, if it was low back like mine, and I’m betting it was. Post surgery, it would have been a matter of getting tired. It’s a very serious operation.
Going out and running every day, like he used to>>>>>>>>>
Any more details of this such as how far he runs. I respect any man his age who runs daily
Yeah, I wish I could refrain from whining about things like that when I’m in pain or fatigued. It never helps anything, but then if it really was impactful, it’s hard not to, to try to not look like a schlub. But I repeat, it never helps anything. Better to just suffer the consequences of being a schlub and then come back like a house on fire.
Agree on the effect of pain meds. Last Spring I had surgery and post-op was on pain killers. THOUGHT I was just fine! (oh, was I!!!) In retrospect, I was stoned, just stoned. Not a good time to be pursuing the #1 job in the world.
One thing about it, at least Perry wasn't a draft dodger like Romney and Gingrich.
Thanks shield! Your link has good info.
Being on the campaign trail every day has to be the controlling factor on his running routine...might have a different one if you were at home and going to your office there.
Also, bet his doctor is advising on how much to run and to not overdo it, but stay consistent at whatever level is appropriate for your condition.
I can’t even prove he runs every day, just know he runs. And I know people who do that say they miss it when they don’t do it.
The first I knew he ran was the coyote story...had his puppy with him on the run and a coyote appeared, whereupon the Governor pulled out his gun and shot the thing.
My husband had surgery on a vertebrae — included shaving bone from his hip to plant near the vertebrae section removed near screws where the new bone could grow. He wore a back brace for 6 months. He was a trooper about it but it wasn’t easy.
I had a “crushed spine”. After my surgery (I LUVVV MY SURGEON) it took a good 6 months to feel fairly secure my back wasn’t going to break and finally after a year I was doing things I thought I would never do again.
IT TAKES TIME.
His back isn’t really noticed. His gaffes are.
Personality wise he doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but he has some problems too big to overcome.
WOW! I bet you DO love your surgeon. Congratulations on your recovery -— that must have been some year.
Not funny. But really sets your priorities. Whew!
JFK had back troubles from steroid treatments he had as a boy. This contributed to his Adison's disease and a severe osteoporosis of his back vertibrae. President Kennedy suffered from severe back pain and other numerous ailments, taking as many as eight medications a day to manage them. It is doubtful he would have been able to withstand the rigor that a president endures today.
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