Posted on 08/11/2011 9:16:29 AM PDT by Brices Crossroads
I've liked what I've seen in Perry so far, though admittedly, I don't know a great deal about him. That's likely to change given his announcement to Mark Halperin that he wants to be President. Frankly - and we need to be frank about all our potential nominees at this point - my chief concern about him is that he may be more compromised, conservatively speaking, and compromising, than his image would make it appear. The healing of the Bush rift and the Bushies now being firmly behind him does little to assuage any concerns from a purely conservative perspective, though I can certainly understand the political expedience of it from an anti-Romney perspective.
In an Austin interview with Mark Halperin, Rick Perry says he has decided he wants to be president, talks about the advice he got from George W. Bush, and says he would compete against Barack Obama in California.
The reason I say Perry's opening act is weak is because, no matter how you slice it, what he did was cave and throw some conservatives under the proverbial campaign bus. Oops!
About that South Carolina trip: Politico now reports that Gov. Rick Perry will use his visit to a conference hosted by RedState to end all doubt about his intentions to enter the White House Hunt.
In fact, Erick Erickson was so excited about it, he couldn't resist making this tweet.
Funny. Last week Hill Republicans plant a story in WashPost that I have no influence & no one listens to me. Then the Perry story breaks.
Full confession, when I saw the above, the smart-ass in me was dying to Tweet Erick and say I hadn't realized he changed his name to Perry! But I held back out of comity and because Erick's a good guy. Sorry buddy, a second chance for a bite at that apple was just too much temptation for me. But I digress.
In any event, there are two possible reasons for Perry's change in plans. One, making his statement at the RedState gathering wasn't generating enough buzz for him. I don't buy that, as he could make it at a midnight sale somewhere and the media would cover it. So, it must be the second reason. The folks in Iowa complained.
To win the caucuses and ultimately win the Republican nomination, Perry needs Iowa. Perry has found a way make Iowa more difficult than it needs to be. Ironically, Perry has done a better job of insulting Iowa Republicans than Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman have done by just avoided the state. I have always said that Iowans will take seriously those candidates who take us seriously. It appears that Governor Perry doesn’t even respect us, let alone take us seriously.
So, objectively, what can we ascertain from this? Well, in the first place, Perry's opening act was a screw up. He made a commitment to RedState and South Carolina, giving RS a great get btw, then he reneged on it out of political expedience. Now, given the budding bromances with Perry I've observed breaking out like zits on a teenager at RedState, I wouldn't be surprised to not hear any complaints from that corner of the blogoverse. And I would assume Perry explained and apologized, somehow. Who knows, maybe he will make it up to them - and they did enjoy some buzz from it, anyway.
Still, all in all, it was a weak opening act. The initial announcement was a screw up by Perry, one fixed by throwing a small gathering of conservatives under the bus for political expedience. When have we seen that before? Sounds like the Bushies are every bit as involved as some chatter suggests. After all, it was Bush 41 himself who claimed there is no conservative movement. So it would be interesting to know if Perry now has some of the same voices advising him. Hmm.
“Let me tell you something,” the president said. “I whupped Gary Bauer’s ass in 2000. So take out all this movement stuff. There is no movement.”
He thinks he can take the conservatives for granted. After all, W whupped Gary Bauer, didn't he?
The more I know about Rick Perry, the less he is acceptable as a Conservative Republican.
His poll numbers now are just the usual infatuation people have with someone new who they can project their own beliefs on. I doh’t thihnk his poll numbers have anything to do with him just yet.
I prefer the wait and see...instead of the rip and see.
Meanwhile, your candidate, with 100% name recognition, is barely ahead of Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul.
Not surprised to see you taking up for Perry, Rino Newbie.
My Candidate is starting her bus tour in Iowa tomorrow. You better have your PDS booster shot at the ready.
Her standing in these phony push polls that you and your masters promote is about as relevant as Reagan’s 57-35 deficit to Jimmy Carter in 1979.
BTW, wasn’t Rudy Giuliani ahead by double digits at this point in 2007?
At least Perry is putting himself up for scrutiny while your copyrighted non-candidate keeps hiding.
I agree with you. Seems some people want perfection, well perfection doesn’t exist. As much as I like Sarah Palin and understand why she quit being governor, I think that is a big minus for her. She had one opportunity to give a good first impression when she was interviewed on national tv 3 yrs ago, unfortunately it did not go well for her.
Well said.
He’s not conservative enough for it to be so obvious that there are no doubters about his conservatism. Atleast that’s what it appears like to me and because of it makes me wonder.
Indeed, it is disgusting, violates the principles of Reagan and counterproductive to the goal of defeating Obama.
I will vote for Rick Perry if he can beat Obama.
I am a Texan. I do not like Rick Perry.
Perry (or any other candidate) will need more than the conservative vote to oust the socialist.
So quit griping and let candidates play to the middle, for crying out loud.
We have to win next year. Anybody is better than Barry0.
It’s time for common sense.
In 2007, Perry moved out of the governor's mansion into a lavish rental home in fancy gated community in the hills overlooking Austin. It was meant to be a temporary move, but in 2008, the governor's mansion was largely destroyed in a fire that was later found to be arson. Since then, taxpayers have shelled out more than $600,000 in rent and other costs for Perry's housing, according to an Associated Press accounting in 2010. Among other things, the state paid for $1,000 in "window coverings" from Neiman Marcus, $1,000 for repair to the home's "filterized" ice machine and at least $8,400 to maintain the governor's heated swimming pool. The revelations came at the height of a state budget crisis
I will be surprised is this issue doesn't come up in tonight's debate
Hey, Jeb...is that you?
Nice touch, I'd say..sending a message..
Hey, Katy...is that you?
Hiding? Really? Name ONE person in the history of politics who has been more scrutinized professionally and personally than our non-candidate. I know for certain you are better at choosing your words than that.
Is that you John McCain?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.