Perry’s biggest problem is that he’s used to preaching to the choir. Texas has large numbers of smart conservatives, many of them Evangelicals, and I don’t think he realized that he couldn’t necessarily take this show on the road. I’m not sure he’ll be able to recover.
I used to think Cain’s major problem was foot-in-mouth, but now I’m thinking it’s a bad case of Clintonitis. That is, lying and hoping his personal charm will carry the day. Not good, and frankly, I wouldn’t vote for him. I would have originally, even though I didn’t like the cult of personality, but this episode has revealed that he’s simply not up to the job.
That said, I really don’t know who to look at. I like Gingrich more than rhe others, but remember that the GOP leadership abandoned him when the Dems attacked (it was the perfectly innocent book deal that they used to get him to step down). And I think the GOP leadership is committed to Romney.
Among the so-called “second tier,” there’s nobody I think would be able to improve significantly.
It’s going to be a tough year.
Maybe SP will reconsider.