OK, I tried so hard to be succinct there that I cut off my own post.
I am trying to do three things for Perry: 1) correct factual misrepresentations. 2) put the real issues people have with a few of his actions in context. 3) Dissuade people from abandoning Perry simply because his poll numbers are low.
I’ve got no beef with people who don’t want Perry. Everybody has to make their own choices. I think we could do that without all the snide comments and childish namecalling, but whatever. I do want people to make that decision with the best evidence available. Thats a much for me as anybody. When someone posts something negative about a candidate, I go research it. If it’s true, I want to know; if it is false, or just misleading, I need to know that as well, and feel others should also care.
So I have a particular disdain for posters who attack me when I try to correct something I see as wrong, by telling me Perry is toast so I’m hurting people by defending him (not you — just a random observation).
That's a mighty tall order, and I'm glad it's a task that I haven't chosen to shoulder.
Most people commenting on this board have looked at Perry with their own two eyes, and have found him lacking in too many ways to seriously consider giving him their support. As a staunch Perry supporter, that's something you simply have to face.
You may be willing to give him a pass on his transgressions against conservative principles, and forgive him his failures to achieve the sort of things that conservatives are looking for in someone with his long tenure, but most other people aren't.
Look at it this way. Most people have an internal laundry list of things they look for in a candidate, and subconsciously grade each candidate on each of those points, as the individual candidates conduct their campaigns. It doesn't take long for the average person to gravitate toward that candidate who scores the highest on their list of qualifications. Conversely, they move further away from those candidates who score the poorest, in their estimation.
Perry's poll numbers (as well as the rest of the candidates) are merely a reflection of what's occurred in the minds of countless voters during this primary race. He has simply failed to sell himself as a viable candidate to most people watching the race, and his poor poll numbers reflect that.
I've read lots of your posts about Rick Perry, and for my money, you're doing a better job of selling him, than he is. At this stage, I don't know if he's got the capability to sell himself any better than he has, and let's not forget the fact that it's almost impossible to get voters back, once they've abandoned you.
Like I said, it's a tall order.