Posted on 09/02/2011 10:53:13 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Sure, he polls well, but can he debate?
The polls keep looking better and better for Rick Perry, despite this weeks provocative headline in Politico, Is Rick Perry Dumb? Dumb or not, it sure seems to be working.
On Monday, a CNN/ORC International poll of Republicans and independent voters who lean Republican found that Perrys still on top, with 27 percent of Republicans nationwide supporting him for the nomination. Romneys in second with 14 percent. A poll released Tuesday from Public Policy Polling showed Perry leading among likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina with 36 percent, a full 20 points ahead of Mitt Romney. This shouldnt be too surprising considering that Perry chose the Palmetto State to announce his official candidacy. I bet Romneys ahead in Utah.
Not to be outdone by the furious polling conducted by CNN and PPP of every Republican-leaning household in the world, Quinnipiac University released its own national poll Wednesday showing that Perry is the first choice for 26 percent of Republican voters, followed by Romney at 20 percent. But there is some good news for Romney. He has a favorability rating of 57 percent compared to Perrys 44 percent. Both candidates are running about even with President Obama, although on Thursday Rasmussen Reports showed Perry with a small edge over Obama, 44 to 41 percent. Likeability is clearly not a factor here.
So what should we make of Perrys strong showing in the polls? Is he unstoppable? Or will he crack during next Wednesdays GOP presidential debate? The debate, hosted by NBC News and Politico, will be held (naturally) at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. If youve ever seen Perry debate (a rare treat, as he avoids them at all costs), youll know this isnt his strongest forum. There will be no bales of hay to casually place his cowboy boot upon. There will be no tea party crowd to whisper sweet nothings of secession and deportation to. There wont be any snubbing of the media, since this is sponsored by the media and that would just be awkward. The governor is actually going to have to answer questions and acknowledge the other candidates. Perry doesnt like sharing the stage, unless its with Ted Nugent.
Baby Got Backers
Fresh on the heels of receiving the coveted endorsement of one-time semi-celebrity gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, who was apparently trying to remind people of his existence, Perry got another key endorsement this weekthat of influential evangelical leader Rick Scarborough. Scarborough, the founder of Vision America, told TIME that he would be making his case to other social conservatives. Thats not to say Rick Perry is Jesus because he is not, Scarborough said. But when you look at his full body of work, hes been the best governor weve ever had. So, kind of like Jesus.
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) also endorsed Perry, the first U.S. senator to do so in the 2012 primary. Inhofe told NBC News that Perrys gubernatorial experience, personal profile, and good looks make him the candidate to beat. At least until Sarah Palin enters the race. Shes much better looking.
False Security
Meanwhile Perry is doing his best to piss off those already-cranky seniors by taking even more shots at Social Security. On a campaign stop in Iowa Saturday, he repeated accusations in his book, Fed Up!, that the program is unconstitutional and amounts to a Ponzi scheme for young people. The idea that theyre working and paying into Social Security today, that the current program is going to be there for them, is a lie, he said. Later Perry reasserted that he hadnt backed off any of the claims in his book. So read the book again and get it right, he told the crowd, thereby assuming that anyone read it in the first place.
How to Ruin Perrys Day
take away his sonogram law.
This week a federal judge in Austin found that several portions of the law, which requires sonograms for any woman seeking to obtain an abortion, were unconstitutionally vague and violate the First Amendment. The preliminary injunction issued by the court blocks the state from enforcing penalties against either the doctor or the woman. The law was to take effect on September 1. Of course, Perry can always blame it on that activist judge and the pesky First Amendment that got in the way. Nothing like red meat for the base.
Of course he can.
The vast majority of Americans have no idea who he is, except he’s been flogged by the media of late as the tea party candidate (wherever that came from!) with a good record as TX guv.
They’ve not so much as seen him in a debate or give a speech—or heard any real details about his record. (E.g., on ethics and illegal immigration and actual government spending)
Well, Perry could bomb in the debate next week but not likely.
It is likely, however, that NBC and POLITICO will ask him some gotcha questions but I thnk his charm could get him out of a tough spot.
If Bush survived the debates than Perry should have no problem.
“Irene.” A Japanese woman with one leg!
We need to play the hand we are dealt.
Trying to hobble the momentum of the best, fastest and most powerful horse in the race will leave us at the gate, again.
It is nice to envision the perfect candidate, but it is like girls who waited so long for Mr. Perfect, that they ended up old maids.
I am only saying this because I don’t think that “O” can actually beat ANY one of the Conservative hopefuls (except possibly Romney)...but Conservatives can defeat themselves (and have done in the past).
LOL!
OK!
Right on Smarty! RIGHT ON!
Good luck in the primaries Governor. It’s good to have a deep bench to pick from.
[ Support for all of them(conservatives) will assure the success of Conservatism for decades to come. ]
true... whats more important is many more members of the House and Senate to be elected..
And they will be.. 2012 is the main event showing for Nov. 2010..
60+ members of the Senate is required.. “RINOS be gone”
Do you just throw everything you can against the wall?
When Texas's anti-sodomy law was struck down in 2003 by the Supreme Court Rick Perry called Court decision the result of nine oligarchs in robes."
Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry has signed a pledge from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) pledging to oppose same-sex marriage and advance a constitutional marriage amendment.
Nope, he'll self-destruct within one month, and nothing can stop him. The first two debates will seal it.
It aint none of his business if each local/state wants its own marriage laws. Problem is..those marriages would have to be recognized in the other states. THAT IS where this is going. They want those marriages to be recognized in all states! If that happens, and they pass ANYTHING to advance this social debacle, then all the states MUST recognize gun laws also. No?
DO NOT wish for something you might regret later. This could open a whole can of worms none of us want.
If Perry, and believe me, I like him, sticks his nose into this, he will get burned. Better for him to say that it is a local issue and that only.
Why is it people want the holy federal government running every part of their lives?
You could be right. ;-)
Or you can get raw with these strings. Either way, the violin is sweet yet lethal.
Do it!
Sounds like Alex Jones.
Or you can get raw with these strings. Either way, the violin is sweet yet lethal.
Do it!
Just a year ago, a poster on FR was reflecting that he thought the talent pool of real conservatives with presidential credentials was amazingly thin, other than Sarah.
His thought was that the Bush family and Karl Rove (I think Rove especially) had deliberately sandbagged conservatives all over the map in local races, to "suppress" social conservatives before they could get their political careers started. (Remember what happened to Rick Santorum?) Which when you think about it is the same thing gay PAC's do. Isn't that interesting?
And it turns out the chairman of the RNC, Ken Mehlman, is gay. Lots and lots and lots of power gays closeted all over the upper reaches of the RNC and GOP on "Poppy" Bush's watch, and again on Shrub's.
Makes you wonder what is going on in the RNC's "neural plexus", doesn't it?
We need a good, strong Main Street conservative to broom out the backstabbers, rich boys, and Princeton fairies from the influential recesses of the GOP, and turn that once-great party back to the People.
Unless she's Chinese, then it's "Irene" [rimshot]
"Lord, I apologize, and be with the starvin' Pygmies down there in New Guinea. Amen."
Not enough spittle there, gotta add more spittle...
I pinged it....it seems Eileen likes to refer to herself in the third person.
If Bush survived the debates than Perry should have no problem.
I still chuckle about Bush's repartee during the second presidential debate: "Need some wood?"
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