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.
Whoopee!!!
The Amnesty Lover is in the Race!
Whoopee!!
Hopefully Cain’s presence will finally lead to something on the FairTax.
Yes, Gov. Palin needs to have grown greatly, in the last year or so. Her firing and hiring of advisers may be a clue.
Uh oh, prepare to be attacked. Frankly, as a Texan now, he was very conservative with the state budget crisis. He has problems with his past, but he’s better than some.
I am a Texan. I am a Texas veteran.
I have voted Republican all my life.
I have never voted for Perry.
I never will vote for Zoolander.
Can you say Trans Texas Corridor?
Imminent domain for a superhighway thru Texas for NAFTA, in which the contractor was a company from Espana.
That was his BABY!
In 04 campaign commercials, Zoolander wore his Drugstore Cowboy hat and Carhart, overlooking the river, saying how he would protect Texas. He would put Texas Nat. Guard on the river. What a liar! The only one I know lies more than him is amabO!
I grew up in the valley and live 90 miles from the river now.He aint done squat to protect us! The border is a war zone.
They ONLY time he comes around S.Texas is when he is scrounging up $$$ or votes. Every time I see him I can’t help but think of the Mel Tillis song,
“ Your just a Coke a Cola Cowboy. You got an Eastwood smile and Robert Redford hair. And you walked across my heart like it was Texas, and you taught me how to say I just don’t care.”
Cmon Sarah.
Can you find a link where Perry stuck up for Palin when she was blamed for the Arizona shootings???
Easier yet, can you find a link where Perry supports or defends Palin at all?
His support of the Trans-Texas Corridor was really bad. It’s a huge mark against him in my book.
It's like a dream come true! /s
For me, I want a governor who served two terms (in this case, the third term is a bonus.) This way they have a record. And they have proven they can win re-election.
I don't take congressmen seriously as human beings, let alone as presidential candidates. Nor am I impressed by governors who couldn't complete a single term, no matter the reason.
Perry, if he gets in, ought to be able to oust Romney, and get rid of the amatuer hour candidates that the tea party seems intent on nominating.
Palin can not win a presidential election. The liberal media would destroy her and her family. It would not be worth the sickness coming her way.
By this time, I guess Perry realizes that the Demwit media will soon begin its ongoing anal examination of his and his family’s lives.
No doubt about it, they'll ride him hard if they think he's a threat to their "chosen one" Mittins. My guess is he knows it's coming, and he's ready for it.
LOL...
Of course they'll be kinder to an anti-constitutional globalist RINO.
“A governor from Texas... what could possibly go wrong.”
I remember thinking those exact same words circa 1999.
Statement on Palin’s difficult decision to resign as Governor of Alaska:
“Sarah Palin is a good friend and accomplished governor who will continue to be a strong voice of conservatism in American politics. Her state and our country are better off as a result of her tenure as governor and her candidacy for vice president.
“I expect she will continue to work on the issues facing our country as conservatives strive to undo the damage being done by an out-of-control congress and federal government.”
http://www.rickperry.org/release/statement-gov-perry-gov-palin%E2%80%99s-decision-step-down-governor-alaska
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perry talking about Palin:
The political divide, the governor insists, is between “mushy, middle of the road” Republicans and clear, devoted fiscal and social conservatives, like himself and Sarah Palin.
On that last point, he states emphatically, “I love Sarah Palin, I love her positions, I think she was a good governor. . . . I want her to be engaged in this rebuilding of the Republican Party. . . . She is substantially more the face of this country than some other people who might want to be the face of the Republican Party. To me she’s the face of America. I mean she’s a hard worker, she didn’t come from money, she didn’t come from privilege, she just worked hard. . . . I have not seen another person who invigorated the Republican base [like she did] with the possible exception of Ronald Reagan in 1976—the speech he made at the Republican Convention. People were looking around and saying, ‘we nominated the wrong dude.’”
http://www.rickperry.org/media-articles/fiscal-conservatism-and-soul-gop
I'm glad you posted the links, I've saved them.
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