Posted on 01/05/2012 1:16:43 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
National conservative leaders are wondering who, if anyone, can stop Mitt Romney from walking off with the Republican nomination after his narrow win in Iowa and his expected comfortable victory in New Hampshire next week. The name that keeps surfacing is Rick Perry, which says a lot about the desperation that the anti-Romney forces are feeling now.
[snip]
Perry insiders say that the plausible course forward for the candidate is to make this a one-on-one race with Mr. Romney so that the conservative vote doesn't split in two, three or four ways.
South Carolina has a history of deciding the eventual GOP primary winner. If Mr. Perry can take first or second place, he can live to fight another day and prepare for Super Tuesday, when voters in the bulk of Southern states go to the polls. Perry supporters also say that a comeback depends on his ability to make this a North versus South race. They say that three-quarters of Republican voters aren't sold on Mr. Romney. The problem for Mr. Perry, of course, is that even more voters aren't sold on him, either, in part because he has done such a lousy job of educating voters about his admirable record on jobs and growth in Texas.
Many conservative leaders that I talked to after the Iowa caucuses are rallying around the latest flash, Rick Santorum. But others have concluded that despite all of his debate mishaps and his poorly run campaign thus far, Mr. Perry may be the only Republican candidate capable of beating Mr. Romney. As one campaign aide told me: "We have to make a good second impression."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I can’t believe I’m saying this but you’ve just made some sensible posts on here.
And you are so right. Santorum and Gingrich have their good points, even some excellent points, but they are both fragile candidates very subject to collapse.
I say this not to knock them, but because it’s the truth and I think everybody knows it even if they don’t want to admit it.
I’m glad Rick Perry is still in. Everyone should be.
For the Lord’s sake, we don’t want to be left with nobody substantial to fight Romney.
Perry hasn’t done well so far but so far is not very far.
His negatives are mostly in the eye of some beholders who are bitter clingers to the idea that Perry is pro illegal when he is not.
Unlike Newt and Santorum, Perry has had to deal with the illegal problem and he’s done so well. He does have a plan for the border but it is naive to say ‘build a fence,’ when you consider the border in Texas. It’s gonna take more sophisticated tactics than that, which is physically impossible.
Most of the Perry haters are clinging to old stories that have been refuted and explained many times.
We may well need Perry. I wish him well and I wish the country well.
I like Perry but I still think he’d be massacred in any debate with Obama. And the vast middle “undecided” will be influenced by that
That's my position as well. Has Perry changed his position?
Thanks CoA. I did it as a test. Unfortunately I knew it would fail. It would seem Perry supporters are to be hobbled.
If it were possible to post w/o constantly defending positions that the same misinformation peddlers use to counter effective dissemination of information it would be nice. However, I don't see that happening.
I find myself agreeing with your comments here. Nice call on a number of thoughts.
Tag-team, anti-Perry talking point antics aren’t novel or convincing [Really? I didn’t know that. Wow, I didn’t know that! I find myself agreeing with your points. Nice call.....etc].
Who is the candidate you support today — on “paper” that is?
Each of us has our own style, our preferences, and our sense of doing what we think is right in support of our favorite candidate. I disagree with Cincinatus’ Wife and Altura here, and although my responses to them may seem biting and curt, I understand they are doing what they can to support their candidate. They support Rick Perry. I cannot do so. I respond to what they have said or posted. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like them.
Jim has asked us to post positive things about our own candidate and I understand why. I will say that as a supporter of Santorum, I am also quite interested in what he has done in his past. It does matter to me what he has been up to. I am going to do my best to make sure he is someone I can support. If I find out something about him that destroys my ability to support him, I’m not going to ignore it and support him anyway.
I’m not so much worried about finding something about him I don’t like, as I am upset that the supporter of one candidate can ignore what their candidate has done that is similar or worse than what they are taking Santorum to task on. That really bothers me.
If they want to reveal something about Santorum with the up front acknowledgement that their own guy has done something along the same lines, I’m not going to be as disturbed, but post some attack on an issue that their own candidate has problems with, and I’m just not going to take it in stride. I think that’s being considerably unfair to the candidate being attacked. It’s gaming the system IMO.
Right now we are upset that Obama is issuing Executive Orders and doing end runs on Congress. I know of one candidate out there that has done his own end run on his legislature to issue an executive order concerning a certain segment of his populace. That was a VERY BIG deal for me. It signaled to me that he was willing to do something I abhor. I didn’t want that done at the federal level. It was a deal breaker for me. It was not a deal breaker for others.
If I found out that Rick Santorum had done something like this, I would dump his arse quicker than folks can say ‘Lone Star State’.
It is this concept that causes me to think I need to hear what the candidates have done in their past. I may not want to hear it, but I must hear it.
I expect a factual accounting of my candidate’s past. I expect it to be done in an up front manner. I expect not to like hearing it if it is bad. I expect to find myself changing my mind if need be.
And when it comes down to it, I expect that of everyone, no matter how much they like their canidate, or wish it wasn’t true.
Keep telling yourself that, honey.
She was part of a posse of people who came on every Perry thread to make nasty comments about Perry.
No, I am part of a group of people who know Perry's record, and as DO said, find it the height of hypocrisy to see you and your ilk slam another candidate when your guy has done the same things- if not worse. Of course, you expected all the Daily Dose people to fall in line behind Perry. You also expected all the Palin people to support Perry. And when that didn't happen, you ankle biters went after every single candidate with the hopes of tearing them down to build your guy up.
That is simple FACT and you are one of the most guilty. She accuses Perry supporters of trashing Cain. I was on many Cain threads, just looking mostly. I did not trash him nor did I see anyone I know as a Perry supporter trash him.
Then I suggest you go and look at those threads again. She has no one left to love so she just indulges in hate. I cannot believe it as I once thought she was a great person.
IOW, because she doesn't support my guy, I don't like her anymore. Well boo frickin hoo.
Most excellent response.
Over the years, South40 and I have agreed on a number of issues. Illegal immigration could be the issue where we agree the most.
We don’t follow each other around the forum. We run into each other from time to time and exchange comments. That’s what we did here.
South40 made a series of comments to me in the post I responded to. Agreeing with him, I said what I did.
If you wish to think of that as a tag-team effort, be my guest.
I have supported Bachmann, Cain, and now Santorum. That may change. So far it doesn’t look like it will. I am not blindly loyal. If something does come up about Santorum that is a deal breaker, I’ll move on.
Thank you.
My goodness, you actually have the gall to say that after all the tag-team Perry posts that you and your cohorts clearly are organizing behind the scenes?
Talk about projection.
Not that I have heard and I probably would be suspect of statements doing so at this point given his history on the matter. The last statement I have heard was when he was talking about ground zero and stated that should be a state matter. The was weak on it’s face because Muslims in this country is a national security matter and needs to be addressed nationally not in states.
Now you're on this thread telling Rick Perry supporters to get behind Santorum and bail away from Perry.
You also cited in your argument that Santorum was in single digits just a week ago and could be there again.
But we are COMMANDED by you to get behind Santorum. On a Rick Perry thread. And nobody had said jack squat about Santorum yesterday when you made that unflattering post about Perry supporters.
You want your cake and eat it too. If anything, support your man Santorum and leave us the hell alone. Stop telling us what to do.
“Thanks CoA. I did it as a test. Unfortunately I knew it would fail. It would seem Perry supporters are to be hobbled.
If it were possible to post w/o constantly defending positions that the same misinformation peddlers use to counter effective dissemination of information it would be nice. However, I don’t see that happening.”
Well, then, maybe we should stop trying...or possibly have an-all purpose link with Perry’s positions on the issues which could be posted once in response, and then we could continue to chat. Any interested lurkers could see the information and make up their own minds. I’m not going to allow myself to be intimidated, or shut up, by yapping.
Please point out on this thread where I have said that.
hint - you can't. I think that after South Carolina and Florida, the top anti-Romney should stay in and the other two should get out to avoid splitting the conservative vote. But that is just common sense and not tied to a specific candidate.
So do yourself a favor and get your facts straight before bashing another poster.
That's a lie and you know it.
You insulted Perry supporters on a Santorum thread yesterday when nobody had said a thing. I was nice and supportive toward you and your candidate.
Today you're on a Perry thread doing the very thing you warned others against yesterday. You're also suggesting we rally behind one conservative (Santorum) which is also suggestive that we leave Perry.
Those facts are straight.
Lying apparently comes easily to you. You are making a very specific claim. Back it up or back off, jack. Show me where I have specifically said TODAY that Perry supporters should rally behind Santorum. I said no such thing. I said that after South Carolina and Florida, whoever among Newt, Santorum or Perry is in the lead should remain and the other two should drop out. YOU are the one projecting what I am saying to Santorum. I have said on this thread that I have no idea who will emerge as the eventual front-runner.
And then you call ME an antagonizer? I'm not the one lying about what has been posted.
Oh, and regarding Perry supporters bashing Santorum, they had been doing it for a couple of days, following Perry's release of a negative ad against Santorum. So I had ample reason to say that, given the history. If you don't believe me, I will cheerfully provide links. Unlike you, I don't pull my claims out of my arse.
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