Posted on 12/21/2011 12:30:44 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Will Republican voters give Governor Rick Perry a second chance? For what it is worth, I give him a 5% chance of being elected next November. Others also seem to think he has a shot and he is even beginning to get niot only another look but some endorsements.
Ace of Ace of Spades HQ — a pretty big blogger — made a very good case for Rick Perry, which is why Ace has such a good reputation. He pointed out that most voters have not been paying attention to the race and bloggers and their readers have paid perhaps too much attention. He also pointed out that we have to look beneath the surface at what he calls the secondary and tertiary issues.
His is a 3,000 word post or about the size of 4 George Will columns, and it is probably worth more.
Ace’s key points: Rick Perry is true to his wife, did the military time, and jobs, jobs, jobs.
Ace blisters the knocks on Rick Perry while knocking Newt Gingrich. It’s sweet. I am reading this and think, sheesh, these are points that I should be making. From Ace: “Should Gingrich be our nominee, be prepared to do a lot of double-takes as faithfulness and devotion to family suddenly becomes the key trait in a president. The media will call Rick Perry stupid, of course. And Perry has armed them with weapons to use on this front. However, his gaffes are now several months old, and he hasn’t repeated them.”
I think Ace went a little too far in knocking the lack of service time for Newt and Mitt. Yes, they were of draft age during Vietnam. But only 10% of that pool served. In the last 3 presidential elections, it has been a Vietnam veteran versus a person who did not serve in Vietnam. Each Vietnam vet finished second.
The jobs, jobs, jobs aspect is the best selling point because it shows not only does Rick Perry have executive experience, he has executive success. From Ace:
America, and especially the Republican party, has long favored elevating governors to the presidency. Governors are, after all, the presidents of single states. They have nearly the exact same duties and functions (including even maintaining and controlling the state national guards). They have similar executive powers and set the agendas for their respective legislatures. In the case of border states such as Texas, they even require some foreign policy making duties.
No job in the world really prepares someone for the Presidency. But one job, more than any other, comes fairly close to doings so.
So Rick Perry cannot handle high executive office?
Then how is it he’s been doing just that for 11 years?
(And if you want to object that Texas has a weak-governor system, with a lot of power vested in the lieutenant governor position — well, they claimed that about George W. Bush, too. And claimed that Rick Perry actually was doing all the hard stuff in his then-position of Lieutenant Governor. So wherever the power lies in Texas, Perry has handled it, in both jobs.)
The stakes in this election are enormous. The next president may well appoint five justices the Supreme Court, essentially choosing our basic jurisprudence for the next 30 years. This will be the presidency in which we make fundamental decisions about debt, and spending, and entitlements. Decisions on those may decide our fiscal policy for the next 20 or 30 years, too.
But while those are the stakes of this election, the election will actually turn on… Jobs.
The piece could have ended there. Ace goes into a defensive mode that is really unnecessary. But this is an important post because Ace is influential in the conservative blogs. I shall give that link again.
The baggage Rick Perry carries is perhaps more humorous than what the others carry, but it is far lighter.
With Newt Gingrich you have to defend three wives, unethical personal and professional behavior, a career of weird positions, and a tendency to out-Obama when it comes to his own assessment of his intelligence. as I wrote earlier, winning all these debates gives Newt overconfidence in the fall campaign on his debating skills. When he falls behind he will bet it all on winning big in the next debate and guess what? He won’t. Everyone will expect him to win.
Mitt Romney’s baggage is Romneycare and wishy-washyness. He has a great life story and could make a great president who balances the budget and makes the nation strong again. But he is so plodding.
Rick Perry needs to stop trying to work the social issues and instead relax, be himself and have fun with the whole campaign. He seems to enjoy pressing the flesh and of everyone running, including President Downgrade, Rick Perry is the guy you want to have a beer with because he’ll pay and it will be a Lone Star. I can see voting for such a man.
That said, I am not endorsing anyone at this point.
But on a scale of conservatism with 10 being Reagan and 1 being Carter, I give Rick Perry a 9. Sure, the HPV vaccine was a mistake but it was one made for the right reason: To save lives.
Michele Bachmann has no chance. Rick Santorum ditto. Rick Perry is the last conservative standing.
He may be dumb but he did not endorse Dede Scozzafava, did he? And yes, that still matters.
You are so wrong about Perry’s positions that I can not take you seriously.
I find your list (2 which aren’t running, one you don’t trust and one who you feel is inexperienced as your choices over Gov. Perry) with your reasons bizarre.
I rest my case.
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