Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who joined the presidential race over the weekend, wasted little time going after his opponents in a speech at the soapbox at the Iowa State Fair.
Posted on 08/17/2011 4:41:02 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
DES MOINES, Iowa — A man in a stars and stripes bandanna tricked Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Monday.
“Governor Perry, try a corn dog,” the Iowa State Fair vendor yelled as Perry and the horde with cameras surrounding him strode down the fair’s main thoroughfare. Having already passed up a couple of food vendors, Perry grabbed the corn dog, dipped it in mustard, took a bite and gratefully looked back.
’’It’s a veggie corn dog,” the vendor said.
Perry looked startled for a second but soon recovered. “As long as they make it on a farm,” he said.
The governor has been talking about farming quite a bit, and quite comfortably, in his first couple of days in Iowa, site of the country’s initial nominating contests. His background in agriculture — raised on a West Texas farm, eight years as state agriculture commissioner — is one reason he’ll be a major contender to win the Iowa caucuses in early 2012.
Religion is another.
’’Thank you for calling our nation to pray and fast,” Norma Johnson of Story County told Perry as she pulled him in for a hug. Johnson was wearing a red Michele Bachmann T-shirt but said she’d be re-evaluating all of the candidates with Perry’s entry.
Experts say more than half of Iowans who took part in the 2008 caucuses were religious conservatives.
Iowa is shaping up well for Perry, and his team likes his chances here.
Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll on Saturday and hails from Waterloo, so it’s reasonable to call her the Iowa front-runner. Many Iowans say they like that she’s been so outspoken on national issues.
But Perry was clearly the more comfortable candidate Sunday night, when they both appeared in Waterloo. He arrived well before his speech and approached individual voters who had assembled for a Black Hawk County Republican Party dinner.
Bachmann, on the other hand, stayed in her campaign bus until well after her allotted speaking time (she didn’t enter the building until her second introduction) and stayed on stage afterward to sign autographs. Voters, in other words, had to approach her.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was at the fair last week but hasn’t made much of a play for Iowa so far.
’’I’m hoping that Governor Romney will see the importance of spending more time and more effort here in Iowa,” Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said at the fair, congratulating Bachmann for her win in the straw poll and saying Perry’s entry had brought a new level of interest to the race.
Branstad hosted Perry for breakfast Monday but isn’t endorsing anyone — at least not yet.
A win in Iowa would give Perry huge momentum heading to New Hampshire, a state he’s visiting twice in his first week as a candidate. Even if Romney beats him in the New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucuses, Perry should do well in the high-profile South Carolina primary, and a win there would give him a tremendous burst heading into the rest of the Republican campaign, if there was one.
Of course, Iowans may decide they don’t love Perry. When he took calls on an Iowa radio station Monday morning, the first couple of questions were about his human papillomavirus mandate and his failed Trans-Texas Corridor plan. Even though Perry’s adversaries probably planted those questions, voters are going to hear about the weaknesses in his record.
But the governor was clearly at ease as he worked the fair, pulling strangers in for hugs, thanking veterans for their service and posing for pictures with anyone who asked.
And, along with the veggie corn dog, the rigidly fit governor ate a pork chop and a hard-boiled egg — both on sticks.
He must really want to win Iowa.
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who joined the presidential race over the weekend, wasted little time going after his opponents in a speech at the soapbox at the Iowa State Fair.
I only learned yesterday that Bachmann was born in Iowa. It’s no wonder that Iowan voted for her in the Ames straw poll!
As presidential race soon shifts to Florida, Rick Perry revs up efforts
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