Posted on 05/17/2011 12:58:32 PM PDT by Retired Greyhound
As many grass-roots Republicans remain in search of a conservative candidate with the pizazz to go toe-to-toe against President Obama, a man from deep in the heart of Texas who was tea party before the tea party was cool appears to be giving the presidential race some thought. Gov. Rick Perry has insisted on multiple occasions that he has no interest in the presidency, but RCP has learned that political associates have begun to nose around quietly on Perry's behalf. A Texas pol who is close to Perry has been telling a few key strategists that the nation's longest-serving governor sees a vacuum and is waiting to be summoned into the race. This source believes that could happen by late summer. Without fellow Southerners Haley Barbour or Mike Huckabee in the race -- and with Newt Gingrich's early troubles raising further doubts about the current lineup -- there could be a glaring niche for Perry to fill. According to another well-connected Republican, at least one Perry confidant has been very quietly making inquiries about the political terrain in the nation's first voting state of Iowa. A third Perry associate, RCP has learned, has been heralding a small contingent of Iowans with the time-tested line that is often used by would-be candidates who are leaving their options open: "Keep your powder dry." Perry's aides have long made it clear that the tough-talking Texan, who succeeded George W. Bush in Austin in 2000, would not seriously entertain the idea of mounting a White House run before the state's legislative session finishes at the end of this month. That date is now less than two weeks away, and the 2012 presidential field remains fluid.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Texas keeping ahead of this economic depression has nothing to do with Perry but quite a lot to do with few unions.
Texas keeping ahead of this economic depression has nothing to do with Perry but quite a lot to do with few unions.
Are you saying he’s a werewolf? Or that you saw him in Trader Vic’s?
in a "weak governor" state. he really can't take much credit for the success of the business environment.
Pawlenty and Santorum are in the same group as Perry.
No one has heard of them before. Now is not the time to get famous enough to win this year.
Perry, Pawlenty, Santorum, they can all run, and through running, will make themselves more well known for later on, 2016 or later. Perry, by running now, can make himself into a Romney of 2016 or later.
Gingrich did Contract With America in 1994. Everyone knows Gingrich. And Contract With America was certainly seen by Republicans at the time as a very good thing. That’s Gingrich’s case.
“Who is going to win” is much easier to figure out when you understand that the Republican winner is the one who is most able to persuade the most people that he (or probably she) is the “top” Republican. And top doesn’t mean “best”. Top means most famous, as a Republican. Who would be seen as the “leader of the Republican Party”? One year is not enough to go from being not famous enough to being “top”.
And it ain’t Perry, or Pawlenty or Santorum. It could be Gingrich or Romney or even Paul. Most likely Palin.
But most of those old-fashioned democrats voted like republicans while they were still democrats and continued to vote like republicans after they became republicans. Perry has yet to make that switch to consistently taking the republican position on the important issues.
Norris? After being a Huckabee shill for years? I mean, I know you’re kidding, but supporting the Huckster took all the tuff out of Norris for me.
Well, if we can stall two years+ before providing proof of residency, I guess Chuck could always move.
It is soooo obvious that you aren't from Texas but from Colorado. Listen and learn from some Texans.
In that case, let's go Norris/Norris. Nothing smaller than the Midgard Serpent can kill Chuck anyway, so he might as well be his own Veep.
I have such mixed feelings about Perry. I hear so much from Texas posters about how they don’t trust him. I also would shoot myself if we ended up with another “Compassionate Conservative”, Lyndon Baines Bush-type big spender in the White House.
Having said that, he clearly has the money, organization and means to win. And he says a lot of the right things. I’d definitely look at him.
Oddly, in the Northeastern US, "dude" is no longer a male-only salutation. My daughters' girlfriends call each other "dude" incessantly.
Dude.
Tony, I’d vote for Pepe LePew before I’d vote for the Kenyan again. That means, of course, that I’d hold my nose and vote for Rick Perry, as I have repeatedly over the years.
It’s true that Texas has weathered the economy better than many states, but it’s wrong to give Perry the credit. We have a weak governor system, and a legislature that only meets a few months every two years. That, in itself, is likely one reason for our success. Government, for the most part, stays out of the way.
Perry has a nice, easy gig in Austin. Grandstand a little and look good on camera.
See, he’s a good politician. He hasn’t drawn serious opposition here in Texas, so he keeps getting re-elected. But he’s not what we want. Just believe it, please?
We must do better.
He's learning Austrian now; the maids think it's hot.
No matter how loudly or how often you say it, that doesn’t make it an endorsement of Perry or his credentials. It is largely due to the conservative (comparably) state legislature that pushed all the legislation that Perry takes credit for signing. He had little if anything to do with actually getting it passed. Yes, Texas is a great state and the economy is better than most of the country. And it is also a weak governor state in which the governor actually has very little power to influence the agenda other than calling special sessions of the legislature.
Just ignore the flaming you will get from those that think Perry will pull their Palin out of a hat.
Me too! And since we know from the last go around that half of America votes style over substance, he could be an actual threat to bozo! Heh-heh!
Thanks for the warning, but I have already noticed the following.
Oh? Well I’m in the midwest and over 20 so dude still means male. *sigh*
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