Posted on 01/09/2012 8:25:23 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Is Rick Perry the Tea Party’s last hope in the 2012 election? As he prepares for his Alamo-moment in South Carolina, the longest serving governor in Texas history makes the case for limited government.
It’s a deliberate play for South Carolina’s once powerful Tea Party to come to his aid. During the 9AM MSNBC debate today with David Gregory, Rick Perry promised the Tea Party across the country that he would have their back against big spending Republicans. But will they have his?
Today, Amy Kremer of the Tea Party Express promised on Breitbart.tv that the organization will endorse before the January 21st.
Perry’s proposals of cutting the pay of Congress and prosecuting congressmen for insider trading have been popular among Tea Party supporters. Indeed, in November, Perry was accused of “pandering to the tea party” by none other than House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). The Texas Tea Party, however, withdrew their support of the governor for his support of sanctuary cities for illegal aliens. An October Washington Post/ABC poll confirms that his support was cratering among Tea Party activists, placing him just above Romney and Ron Paul. Perry is hoping that South Carolina is a bit more generous.
Only a few of the Republicans swept into power in South Carolina by the Tea Party have made endorsements. Tea Party darling, Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Mitt Romney and has been an active surrogate for the former Massachusetts governor as far afield as New Hampshire. Haley’s support in South Carolina, however, is cratering. A poll conducted by Winthrop University between Nov. 27 and Dec. 4 showed only 34.6 percent of those surveyed approved of Haley’s job performance, making her one of the least popular governors in the country.
Haley’s support for Romney may be pecuniary or payback. Romney’s “Free and Strong America” political action committee donated $36,000 to Haley’s campaign in 2010. More than 35 other Romney-backers received PAC money from the former Massachusetts governor before making their endorsements. Perhaps they were merely returning the favor. Or perhaps their campaigns were paid for that favor early in the process.
Thus far, the very popular Tim Scott has declined to endorse anyone for president. Rep. Scott’s highly coveted endorsement is seen as something of proxy for Senator Jim DeMint, the godfather of both the Tea Party and the South Carolina. In 2008, DeMint endorsed Mitt Romney, but in 2012, he has remained deliberately on the side lines.
Of the federal legislators in South Carolina, only freshman congressman (and Tea Party favorite) Mick Mulvaney has endorsed and he has endorsed Rick Perry. Mulvaney reportedly decided to support Perry after seeing his 20% flat tax proposal. “It’s very, very similar to what we’ve been talking about in terms of the Republican Study Committee, the conservative group within the House Republicans, and he went a little bit further than I think we’re going to go even. I was enthusiastic about somebody actually taking some bold steps,” Mulvaney told MSNBC. Perry also won the support of Bobby Harrell, South Carolina’s Speaker of the House.
South Carolina’s Tea Party groups hold their own convention in Myrtle Beach on Sunday, Jan. 15, and Monday, Jan. 16, the same day that the next– the 16th– of the presidential debates takes place.
Perry’s sure to be helped by his South Carolina advisors, which include former state GOP chairman Katon Dawson, who believes that Perry will play well with both evangelical and military voters who make up the Palmetto State’s Republican electorate. “Iowa picks corn, New Hampshire picks presidential campaign pockets, and South Carolina picks Republican presidents,” Dawson told reporters after Perry’s fifth place finish in Iowa.
Though there is no clear Tea Party candidate in South Carolina, Tea Party groups are pretty clearly opposed to Mitt Romney. Karen Martin, the head of the Spartanburg County, S.C., chapter and other Tea Party leaders put it simply in an interview with National Public Radio:
“There’s no Tea Partier that I talk to in the state or nationally that would want to promote Romney. Other than the people that have come out publicly and endorsed Mitt Romney and the people left over from his 2008 campaign, I do not personally know anyone that does not despise Mitt Romney and doesn’t hate the idea of him being our nominee.”
Governor Perry will be sure to keep proclaiming his conservative bona fides, especially on the Tenth Amendment, which is popular among Tea Partiers. To capitalize on that vote, Perry would do well to throw his backing to South Carolina’s fight against the Justice Department over voter fraud. He would also do well to speak out against President Obama’s unconstitutional recess bids, especially as those recess bids governing the National Labor Relations Board which is at war with Boeing over relocating their plant to a right-to-work state.
You are right!
I just got some of that and posted it above.
Bump!
Well, that is one outside hope, that Huntsman can take significant votes away from Romney, but I don’t see him as a viable alternative to Mitt in his own right.
Huntsman is alright and he’s my third choice, but the longer he lingers he can easily take around 5-6 points from Romney at each non-Southern state like Nevada,et al...makes it look less “inevitable” for Romney.....
Amazing...
Instead of first, place or show, Perry should just be “no show”. SC has already rejected him.
This is typical of the diehard Perry supporters here, they lack any ability to realize that their PMSing over Perry criticisms is rubbing others the wrong way.
CW along with her other Perry gang members love delving into drive-by shootings at the rest of the field but suddenly go nuclear when the situation is reciprocated. This is why I’ve referred to them as a cult, conniptions and foaming at the mouth whenever Perry get’s criticized. This rabid devotion only makes their guy less appealing and if his campaign actually staffs maniacs like the ones here on FR, it explains his dismal poll numbers.
I've given up painting by polling numbers. We'll see what the actual voting percentages tell us after SC.
That's the truth right there.
Hey I could take a nap with those two comforting images!! LOL
>>How do you feel about the other state mandated vaccines: measles etc?
Apples to oranges...someone with measles can spread it walking down the hall at school - that doesn’t happen with HPV.
If the voters of Texas wanted this, and if the process had gone thru the legislature like most other legislation, as opposed to Perry attempting to bypass the voters AND the legislature, I would have had less of a problem with it . Fact of the manner he wanted to act like a king and order very young girls to get medication, after intense lobbying by Merck...not somebody I want in the WH.
The ludicrous thing about this whole fiasco, is that if Obama (or any other left leaning governor) had ordered this vaccine for all school aged girls, in the same manner that Perry had in Texas, every single person on FR would rightfully be decrying the over-reaching of an extremist liberal agenda...I guess its a case of selective outrage - it was OK cause your guy did it?...would you be defending the actions if Obama had ordered it?
But kids can walk down the hall at school spewing measles or whatever, because they are allowed a waiver.
So is that ok for you? It's ok for me because I'm consistent on the issue. If there's a waiver available against the latest "science" then a concerned parent can make the right choice for his/her kid.
It doesn't matter if it's crony capitalism for HPV or questionable components and risks of "standard" vaccines to me.
Obviously we agree that nobody should force a child to get the Gardasil shot, but do you think the state should be able "strong arm" the child to take any vaccine?
Thank you. As a Christian, I fully know and understand what the Bible says about preaching other gospels. To claim that Rick Perry has ever done so is ludicrous.
Please take some time to do your own research about this issue; don’t just glom onto google articles that support your own mistaken POV. Really look into it for yourself.
Your candidate is Gingrich, right? It’s always wise to keep in mind that no candidate is perfect. While you’re researching this Perry issue, maybe you could also look into Newt’s global warming problems. He has been walking back his support for it lately because he’s been trying to win conservative support. But last night, on a Frank Luntz special, a liberal New Hampshire Republican suggested he should voice more support for the (loony)idea. Newt replied that Cap and Trade went too far, but indeed, we have to find ways to “lower carbon emissions.”
My electric bill continues to climb due to the global warming stupidity. I don’t want another president who buys into it and will help bankrupt me and the rest of the country. I could vote for Newt if I had no other choice. But I would rather have a good solid conservative candidate like Perry, who has openly said that global warming is nothing but a hoax.
Where was the mosque built and in what year? Did Perry lobby for funds to get this built? No slam ‘Bear, just curious.
my .02
Remember that Santorum spent his time visiting every county in Iowa while Perry spent gobs of cash on ads. I think Santorum’s “boots hitting the pavement” approach worked well in Iowa.
SC will be a harder nut to crack but the boost he received from nearly winning Iowa may help alleviate the need to continually pound that pavement.
I’m completely independent and don’t hold water for anyone, however if there is an absolute, NO ROMNEY.
I never said that Perry preached another gospel. I said the Islam does and Perry is welcoming them into Texas and wishing them well.
>> Please take some time to do your own research about this issue;<<
LOL Believe me, I have done the research and have substantiated all that I claim.
>> Your candidate is Gingrich, right? It’s always wise to keep in mind that no candidate is perfect.<<
I have begun to support Newt only in the last couple of weeks. That was a long time after having eliminated Perry as someone I would support.
>> While you’re researching this Perry issue, maybe you could also look into Newt’s global warming problems.<<
First of all, what most are not understanding or out and out covering up is that Newt was not so much a believer in global warming but trying to show that Republicans also are concerned about the environment. If you remember the Republicans were being accused of not caring about the environment. Newt has clarified his views on that often.
>> Newt replied that Cap and Trade went too far, but indeed, we have to find ways to “lower carbon emissions.”<<
You don’t agree what we should find ways to lower carbon emissions?
>> But I would rather have a good solid conservative candidate like Perry, who has openly said that global warming is nothing but a hoax.<<
Agreeing that we should do what we can to protect our environment automatically translates into believing in global warming? Newt has been against any and all attempts to install over the top expensive regulations. His stand on self reliance of fossil fuels from all sources should indicate his unwillingness to curtail any of our domestic resources.
In my estimation even the global warming crap is not as much a danger to this country as is a lax attitude toward the encroachment of Islam. Do your own research and see that Perry indeed did help lay the cornerstone for that Mosque and has made statements of support for Aga Khan and the inclusion of education about Muslims and the good they have done in schools. His own web site had his statements on it. He’s the only one who has never made any comments about the dangers of Islam.
>>But kids can walk down the hall at school spewing measles or whatever, because they are allowed a waiver.
Yes, and everyone that chose to have the vaccine would be protected, wouldn’t they? Who would be at risk? The people that opted out...I have no problem with that.
I believe the govt had NO right to force any child to take ANY vaccine...but I can at least see the logic in working very hard to have most people vaccinated against things that are easily transmitted by casual contact in a school setting...the HPV doesn’t fit that criteria. The only reason it was done was to line the pockets of Merck shareholders...and Perry did their bidding, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
There is NO conservative argument in support of what Perry did. NONE. ZIP. ZERO. If Perry can try to force kids to have the HPV vaccine, ‘because its for their own good’, why isn’t it OK for Obama to force people into govt manadated health insurance ‘for their own good’ Perry blew it. Period. He can try to explain it away anyway he wants, but everyone knows it was crony capitalism at its worst. Conservatives wouldn’t accept it from Obama, we shouldn’t accept it from Perry either. No free pass just because he is supposedly on the same team...at least not from me.
What a joke. Only non-members think the Tea Party likes him.
Rick Perry, has been the anti-Tea-Party candidate on Free Republic.
When Rick Perry first declared, his supporters came in large numbers to FR to bash Sarah Palin and the Tea Party. Like Perry himself, his supporters are imbeciles. They have done a great job of alienating FR members.
RICK PERRY IS A JOKE.
RICK PERRY IS NO FRIEND OF THE TEA PARTY.
RICK PERRY SHOULD NOT BE IN THE RACE — HE IS JUST SPLITTING THE ANTI-ROMNEY VOTE.
.
This sounds like a Bachmann smear. Abusing Christianity in order to score political points against other candidates.
The reference was to Christine O’Donnell, the ‘10 GOP candidate for U.S. Senate from Delaware. Bob McDonnell is the GOP governor of Virginia. Similar names, that’s all,
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