Posted on 09/22/2011 9:10:58 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Mitt Romney is an incredibly vulnerable Republican candidate, from his numerous policy reversals to his championing of the Massachusetts health care law that served as the basis from Obamacare. But for him to lose, somebody else has to beat him. And like Tim Pawlenty before him, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is blowing his chances to exploit Romney’s weaknesses.
The defining moment in this debate may well have been the point at which Perry went on the attack against Romney for being a flip flopper. As I noted earlier, there’s a long file to choose from. And Perry had clearly rehearsed such an attack – you can tell he was starting to go through the list of issues Romney had reversed on, and even used the “for it before he was against” phrasing, a not-so-subtle reference to the infamous Massachusetts flip flopper, Sen. John Kerry. But the exchange came toward the end of the debate, and as has been his habit, Perry began to fade as the debate wore on. During this particular answer, he wrestled for words and stammered. He couldn’t finish his sentences. If you weren’t a political junkie who knew all of the background, you’d have no idea what Perry was mumbling about. And Romney's smooth response made him come off as more steady and reassuring, even though on substance, Perry should have owned him.
The rest of the debate was hit or miss for Perry. But when he received an admittedly difficult question about what he would do if he got a 3 a.m. phone call informing him that Pakistan’s nukes had been taken over by Islamists, he struggled. He ended up giving an incoherent answer that was more of an information dump of random stuff he had been briefed on about the region. It was not very reassuring for those of us who are waiting to see if Perry can prove his dissenters wrong and come off as someone substantive, capable of beating President Obama, and of running the country competently.
Romney remains vulnerable. And unlike Pawlenty, Perry is starting from a stronger position in the polls, so he certainly has a good chance of ultimately winning. However, he’s going to have to step up his game by showing a better grasp of the issues, more stamina in these debates, and by being able to take apart Romney’s endless contradictions. In short, Perry has not blown it, but he is blowing it.
I thought Perry might be the guy. Not so after his weak, stammering performance tonight. I’m getting a sick, sinking feeling in my stomach that Romney is going to be the nominee.
Who is writing off him in mass? You are way over exagerating the effect of debates on winning and losing the elections.
I also know someone in TX that has dealt with both Bush and Perry. He liked Bush, but not Perry. (In fact, this person is a Romney supporter).
But he does say that both are sharp in person.
Blowing? or blown?
Perry got his arse handed to him tonight deep fried.
Romney is a snake and Perry isn’t quite a mongoose.
Sarah Palin maybe?
>> Obama who he has “high respect” for.
Yeah, that was gay.
Perry needs a serious debate coach. Just remember, he’s going up against people who have been campaigning for 5 years. Also, remember how bad Sarah was with her first interview and how much she improved when she received proper coaching.
Perry damaged himself greatly tonight. Made enough Romney ads to last a lifetime. Once again on the immigration issue he came across as arrogant and condescending. That will not play well across the country.
“No worries, we are electing a president, not a debate captain.”
That’s what they said about Jorge Bush.
All what Perry has to do is make a one minutes commercial of Romney speaking on abortion, gay marriage, guns control, man-made global warming and not only Romney would be finished in South Carlina but in another 35-40 states. Have you seen those youtube videos of Romney when he was running for Senate and governor in Massachusetts? All what Perry has to do is to use some use these video clips in one minutes commercials and say good bye Romney.
If Perry falls, then Romney won’t be that far behind. Bachmann and Cain will mop the floor with Romney, even if she’s a bit flakey in the process. Sorry LDS, but the Mormon factor just weirds out too many people, and Mitt isn’t even that conscientious about Mormon ethics.
With every debate, Rick Perry shows that he lives in a glass house regarding flip-flopping. He publicly criticized Arizona’s controversial law to deal with illegal immigrants. Tonight, he tried to reverse his position by saying that he joined Arizona’s suit against the federal government over the law. In other words, he was against enforcing immigration laws before he was in favor of enforcing immigration laws.
Well, Perry has run for re-election in his current post a number of times. Trouble is, people have different expectations from a president than they do from a governor. Especially if they take constitutional differences seriously.
It’s awful hard to keep up with Romney’s lies and half truths. And if Perry is not quite sure of who he is, that makes it even harder for him to cope with that garbage.
If he always flips in the right direction, that’s a lot better than nothing. Still, it would have been better for Perry to have settled on these things a few years ago than to be evolving in the middle of debates.
“By all rights 2012 should be a cake walk for the Republicans. But the poor communicators we have are going to let it become a horse race - and one that could be lost.”
The only one who is a lousy debater is Perry. Newt is an excellent communicator, as is Romney, Bachman, Cain, Santorum, even Huntsman although his personality stinks. The only lousy debater is Perry. He can’t talk. He can’t hang three sentences together without screwing two of them up. Don’t lump the others in with Perry’s lousy speaking skills. He’s the only one with a real problem in communicating. The others do fine. You may not like some of their ideas, but their communication skills are all good, all except Rick Perry.
You’re wrong, Romney is a practiced politician that plays to whatever he thinks the crowd wants to hear. Last year, at our state convention, I say Romney channel Glenn Beck (Beck was then at the height of his popularity). Romney cried.
There! Fixed it!
I am a native Texan and long time republican activist who, prior to tonight, was a strong Rick Perry supporter. No more and I'll tell you why!
When the legislature passed the bill to provide in state tuition for illegals the make up of the Texas legislature was much different than it is today. Republicans (not conservatives) held a one seat majority in the Texas Senate (16 republicans to 15 democrats). The Texas house was composed of 78 democrats and 72 Republicans. Today the Texas Senate is composed of 19 republicans (not conservatives) and 12 democrats. The Texas House has 101 Republicans and 49 democrats. That is a HUGE change over 10 years and one of the main reasons this has occurred is this very issue!
Rick Perry was dealt a bad hand back then. EVERY member of the legislature save four voted for this bill even though the public was adamantly opposed to it. Perry, the newly minted governor of Texas at that time, signed it into law and I seriously doubt that anyone would have done differently under the circumstances.
The public in Texas adamantly opposed the idea of granting in state tuition to illegals then and they still do today. It was shoved down our throats by the 77th legislature and that is, at least in part, why the current make up of the legislature is what it is!
Until today, I had thought Rick Perry understood all this but his words tonight convince me beyond all doubt that I was wrong! He doesn't get it and will only go down in the polls from this point until he finally decides to pack it in!
I thought that was odd, too. Romney had way too much time with Hannity after the debate. Maybe Romney demanded it because Perry was on last night.
And so? Cain and Bachmann aren’t Romneyesque flip floppers, and if Sarah Palin isn’t in the race yet, she’ll be commentating. It won’t take much of a light to rat Romney out too. His front runner status will be brief.
If they want to have a real debate, have it by a topic, such as the budget, and discuss only it.
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