Perry getting in has thrown a wrench in Palin’s timing. She now has to wait a bit longer for Perry to be vetted. If she gets in now , Perry will not be vetted. This is what was learned from Clinton’s defeat in 08. Clinton has said that by getting in just after Obama , the media put all the vetting on Hillary and completely ignored vetting Obama. If she had played the waiting game , Obama would have been vetted. Perry is as corrupt as Obama with the same Chicago way of pay to play in Texas. He has to be vetted.
I think the media was looking for an excuse not to vet Obama. He could have been the only Democrat candidate and the media would have found any reason they could to not give him proper vetting.
I don’t think Perry getting in first is problematic for Palin. In fact, I think Palin wanted it that way. There have been stories of Palin suggesting to Perry when and where he should announce, for example. I think she needed him to get in first to soften up Romney and to eliminate the threat of him coming in late and crashing her grand entrance. In addition, she may have had intel on when the smear books were coming out and wanted to wait till that had peaked too, which it should do in a week or less. Complicated game, but she seems to be counting the cards pretty effectively. IMHO. After all, she is playing against the house.