I like and agree with Perry on this issue. If he keeps up the rhetoric of "ponzi scheme" and "monsterous lie" his campaign will go down in flames. Period. I both agree with him and know he is doomed if he keeps talking about Social Security this way. I wish it was not so, but attitudes towards these programs are fixed and words used to describe the problem and plan put forth to deal with it must be very artfully done.
Older people have been told all their lives these programs are "entitlements", they've paid into them, most seasoned citizens believe they are good programs, and talking about them with reckless rhetoric will utterly destroy Perry. He can easily survive nothingburgers like the Gardasil spat, he can overcome the TTC, he will have to really finesse it but he can probably deal with his relatively weak stance on immigration, but the way Perry is talking about Social Security will destroy his campaign if he isn't very careful.
I don't agree...at least not entirely. If that is all he does, he would lose and would deserve to lose. He has to provide a solution to the problem. Throughout history, including a number of candidates in 2010, we have had candidates speak boldly on Social Security and won.
He's on the record with these statements, so it will come up again and again. It is what he is going to do as a response that will impact his campaign success.