Rick Perry Scares the Media & Democrats to Death

Real Clear Politics ^ | September 5, 2011 | Jack Kelly

[Cincinatus' Wife]

GOP consultant Mark McKinnon says that the editor of a major newspaper told him, "We plan to declare war on Rick Perry and do all in our power to crush him."

Mr. McKinnon was outraged. "No pretense of integrity, professionalism or of unbiased news gathering," he wrote in Investors' Business Daily.

But I doubt he was surprised. This is what the "mainstream" media did to Sarah Palin in 2008, and what likely is in store for anyone Republicans nominate.

But liberals will go after the Texas governor with special venom because he is anti- intellectual, prays in public, takes the Constitution seriously and sometimes carries a handgun, Walter Shapiro wrote in The New Republic.

"It's almost as if Perry's political persona was constructed by bundling together all the fears and phantoms in the left-wing anxiety closet." he said.

Some East Coast Republicans share these concerns. Mr. Perry's "primary flaw appears to be a chesty, quick-draw machismo that might be all right for an angry base but wrong for an antsy country," wrote Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal.

"He does very well with the alternative reality right," snarked David Brooks, the "conservative" columnist for The New York Times.

They were peeved with Gov. Perry for saying it would be "almost treasonous" for Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke to create more money out of thin air.

Ms. Noonan has said of President Barack Obama that "he rose with guts and gifts." Mr. Brooks has praised his "superior temperament" and his "perfectly creased pant." Because of their girlish crushes on the president, they are regarded by few conservatives as good judges of character.

But Commentary editor John Podhoretz, who is made of sterner stuff, also said "suggesting that Mr. Bernanke's easy money policy was tantamount to treason is the opposite..

[Bigun]

She’s not going to win a single primary. Not one. And yes, I’m a betting man.

That is because she will not be a candidate in any of them! She is having a ball playing the media right now but, in the end, she will endorse the candidacy of Texas Governor Rick Perry for President of the United States!

I am also a betting man!

[Alas Babylon!]

GOP consultant Mark McKinnon says that the editor of a major newspaper told him, "We plan to declare war on Rick Perry and do all in our power to crush him."

Why can't McKinnon tell us who it was? I want to know. It IS an outrage and I'd like to know who said it so I can show this to my holier-than-thou liberal friends who like to pretend there's no bias in the main stream media.

[I am Richard Brandon]

"GOP consultant Mark McKinnon says that the editor of a major newspaper told him"

Oh! Good Lord! It's that 'Anonymous Source' again. Grow some and name a name Mark. Are you frightened that you won't have access to the press if you name your source? Does it mean that you want to protect this type of person as a press luminary?

[drypowder]

you nailed it

[PapaBear3625]

Not really. They recognize him as an establishment conservative. They know he’ll make a deal. But appearances have to be kept up.

Do you have somebody better who has declared candidacy?

[Salamander]

*chuckle*

[LibLieSlayer]

They hated GW Bush and feared him also... even when he promoted amnesty and no child left behind (ted kennedy author) and the largest expansion of any entitlement program... up until obamacare that is.

LLS

[Drew68]

Not half as much as Palin scares them.

Palin doesn't scare the Democrats. Many are hoping she'll run. At worst, she'll split the conservative vote giving Romney the nomination and he'd be a president liberals could live with.

They're scared of Perry. They believe that not only is he electable, but he represents the worst type of right-wing, Christian cowboy that scares the wits out of them.

Don't believe me? Go peruse some DU threads on this issue.

[Mozilla]

Perry tells NH ‘no’ to border fence:
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/perry-tells-nh-no-1156851.html

Rick Perry: Border Fence “Ridiculous”:
http://www.therightperspective.org/2011/08/17/rick-perry-border-fence-ridiculous/

Perry not a true conservative:
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=E7CD7CEB-B150-499B-A5A4-D5E48B46D683

Rick Perry: Illegal Immigrants Who Serve In The Military Deserve Citizenship;
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2766637/posts

[cc2k]

OK. I'm starting to think that Perry might be a bit more interesting than I previously though. He's still not my first choice, but if he's the only Republican choice in the Generally, I might be convinced to vote for him.

But I do have a few questions:

• Has Perry ever proposed/signed budgets and/or spending measures which actually reduced spending below previous year levels? I mean in plain old dollars, not "inflation adjusted" dollars, and not "cuts below baseline growth," but rather actual lower dollars spent in year x than in year x-1.
• I hear he knows what a veto pen is, and how to use it. Does he veto stuff because he disagrees with it? Or does he veto stuff because the legislature overstepped their authority and he reminds them that they have to stay within the state constitution?
• Has Perry ever refused "federal grant money" for anything, and if so, why did he refuse the money? Many extra brownie points if his refusal was based on issues of the 10th amendment/no authority for the feds to act granted in the Constitution.

I still feel like the Party Propaganda Ministry (or is it the Ruling Class Propaganda Ministry) is pushing this guy Perry on us so they can knock him down later.

The only candidate who has been through that kind of scrutiny and invasion and survived in any way is Palin. And in spite of all the polls showing her doing badly, if asked about favorable/unfavorable ratings, the polls tend to show a minority in the unfavorable column. Many of the polls that show her doing poorly are commissioned/conducted by people with a stake in making someone else look good. She collects all the opposition votes in those polls and is intended to look bad.

I also doubt that the Ruling Class Propaganda Ministry (the Media plus the party apparatchiks) can knock Palin down any further than she is now. Yet they keep hammering her and trying. When she announces and starts campaigning, I think she'll only go up, and probably quickly.

[Lucky2]

If he’s scaring the Rats and media, I may be able to vote for him! Still liking Cain & Bachmann but they’re starting to look like long shots.

[Drew68]

The only candidate who has been through that kind of scrutiny and invasion and survived in any way is Palin.

In the past decade, Rick Perry has won three back-to-back gubernatorial elections in a state populated by 25 million people including one election where his primary challenger had the endorsement of a former U.S. President and his well-oiled campaign machine at her disposal. His opponents have spent $100 million in a futile effort to defeat him. The so-called Ron Paul supporter who is running ads asking for strippers and "hotties" to come clean (and earn money) about their affairs with Perry has been running this ad for years with nothing to show for his efforts.

To think that Rick Perry, who has never lost an election, has not been thoroughly scrutinized is false. He has and he has prevailed each and every time.

[RKBA Democrat]

“Do you have somebody better who has declared candidacy?”

Interesting caveat there.

Declared, no. Soon to be declared...you betcha.

Keeping things positive...amongst all of the gop candidates, declared and undeclared, Gov. Perry does have the best hair.

[Tex-Con-Man]

The only candidate who has been through that kind of scrutiny and invasion and survived in any way is Palin.

I would never try to argue that Palin hasn't been scrutinized. She and her family have been subjected to an invasion of privacy undeserved by anyone in public service. Publicity seeking Hollywood power couples going through scandalous divorces often request, and are granted more privacy than the Palins are ever allowed.

On the other hand, She was plucked out of Alaska and became VP. I watched her debates with Biden and she did very well. But she has never been through a high profile national Republican Party campaign with a series of debates that will require her to defend her record face to face with people who have done thorough research. This will be new territory for her. I expect her to do very well, should she decide to join, but I don't think it will be the walk in the park some of her "Palin Only" supporters are envisioning.

[Soul Seeker]

But Commentary editor John Podhoretz, who is made of sterner stuff, also said "suggesting that Mr. Bernanke's easy money policy was tantamount to treason is the opposite of handling an issue soberly. It's hyperbolic blatherskite." Maybe. But if liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is right (which is about as often as a stopped clock has the correct time), this "blatherskite" performed a valuable service. The Fed chairman foreswore a third round of "quantitative easing" because Gov. Perry intimidated him, Mr. Krugman wrote.

If Perry's words did bring enough scrutiny to pressure Bernanke then good.

Even if they didn't the detrators are foolish to think they were said without thought. The coverge increased his name recognition without having to make an expensive ad buy. It sent millions of conservatives flocking to his corner who had been waiting for someone with an impressive background to take Obama on. 10 year Governor presiding over Texas qualifies. And it made the obama team react to him one on one. I think that statement can be credited at least half for his rise in the polls. Notice he hasn't repeated the incident. He got what he wanted and needed. If he were really off the cuff he would have flooded the airwaves with one "controversial" statement after another. He hasn't done that. something like this only works FOR the candidate when used sparingly. Too much and you'll be branded as unstable.

[PapaBear3625]

If she declares, I will support her as the better candidate. But she needs to declare first.

[cc2k]

I'm sorry. Perry might have undergone scrutiny in Texas.

Show me articles in the NYT, the Washington Post, or the Miami Herald that have attacked him.

While you're at it, show me where any major Party Propaganda Outlet outside the state of Texas have investigated and published personal life details of 1) his spouse, 2) his children, 3) any other of his family members.

How many millions of his own dollars has Governor Perry spent defending himself in court against baseless charges?

When it comes to public colonoscopies, Perry has no idea what is coming his way should he win the nomination.

And I still think Team Obama wants this guy to be the candidate so they can run agains George W. Bush again. I'm not sure that's a winning strategy.

Until the primaries are over, I'll stick with, Read My Lips, No New Texans, and please, for the love of God, no new Bush's.

[Steel Wolf]

While you're at it, show me where any major Party Propaganda Outlet outside the state of Texas have investigated and published personal life details of 1) his spouse, 2) his children, 3) any other of his family members. How many millions of his own dollars has Governor Perry spent defending himself in court against baseless charges?

Palin walks her own path. Most nominees, past, present or future, aren't going to get the treatment she got. Expecting them to is fruitless.

Perry survived ten+ years as governor of a state will a large and well funded Democrat machine, as well as Bush/Rove factions within the Republican party that sought to replace him. If you're expecting him to fold because he's not vetted, you'll be in for a surprise.

[gogogodzilla]

Geez, considering it’s a ‘major newspaper’... that narrows it down to only three. It’s either the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the Los Angeles Times.

For they are the only liberal newspapers that actually have journalists that work on national-level events. The rest just buy stories from AP, Reuters, or one of those three.

And in my opinion, it’s probably the Washington Post. The New York Times is too tainted for much traction outside of their own libtard base... and the LA Times is too far away and without the necessary budget to pull it off.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

"It's almost as if Perry's political persona was constructed by bundling together all the fears and phantoms in the left-wing anxiety closet." he said.