Rick Perry Is A Leader Who Can Beat Obama, HuffPost-Patch GOP Power Outsiders Say

Gov. Rick Perry's strong first impression on Republicans extends to some of the most politically engaged GOP activists in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, according to a survey conducted this week by The Huffington Post and Patch in the early primary and caucus states.

With Perry set to debate the rest of the Republican field Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., these Republican activists will be watching to see if he lives up to his strong early promise as a leader who seems both ready to be president and able to beat Barack Obama in 2012.

This week, our HuffPost-Patch Power Outsiders poll of 159 political activists, party officials and officeholders in the early primary and caucus states focused on the Texas governor. The survey does not look at a wide swath of Republicans, but rather attempts to listen to the "invisible primary" among influential local activists and political insiders that has historically driven nomination campaigns. We heard from 36 of them in Iowa, 52 in New Hampshire and 71 in South Carolina this week.

We first asked these politically engaged Republicans to use just one word to describe their impression of Rick Perry. More than half of their answers (58 percent) were positive. The most frequent positive words, as presented in the word cloud below, were "leader," "impressive," "decisive," "charismatic," "confident, "electable" and "winner."

Less than a quarter of the responses (24 percent) were negative, including "slick," "fake" and "arrogant."

Some of the answers were either neutral or descriptive in a way that is not clearly positive or negative. The most frequently mentioned terms, "Texas" and "Texan" (7 percent), fall into that category, as do "Bush," "George Bush" and "establishment" (since these responses come from GOP activists and officeholders who are very much a part of their local establishment).

Probing deeper, we found these influential local Republicans to be impressed with Perry in three specific areas. Roughly three out of four describe Perry as someone who takes stands they agree with (75 percent), is ready to be president (77 percent) and can beat Obama in the general election (76 percent). Only a small handful (14 percent on each of the three questions) say these phrases do not describe Perry well.

Moreover, more than one-third say the phrases "would make a good president" and "takes stands on issues you agree with" describe Perry "very well." And nearly half (47 percent) feel strongly that Perry will be able to beat Obama.

This perception of electability among influential Republicans in the early primary and caucus states mirrors findings from the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, which found Republican voters nationwide giving Perry the highest marks on electability. On the question of which candidate has the "best chance to beat Obama," 30 percent in that poll chose Perry, 20 percent opted for Mitt Romney and the other Republicans ran far behind. But Perry scored just 21 percent on which candidate is "closest to you on issues."

Of course, the flip side is that roughly half of the Republicans in the HuffPost-Patch poll are either unsure or only "somewhat" impressed with Perry on the issues and as a potential president. They're waiting to hear more. As one of our South Carolina respondents put it, "the jury is still out" and Perry still "needs to answer the tough questions and provide details on what his plan is to change the direction of the economy." Many tests remain. HuffPost's Jon Ward picked up similar uncertainty about Perry in conversations with both high-profile and ordinary Republicans over the past week.

Perry has moved into the lead as the choice of Republicans nationwide on about a dozen surveys conducted over the last month. Our nonscientific survey shows that his very strong first impression also extends to influential local officeholders, party officials and activists in the early primary states.

Those initial good reviews put Perry in an enviable position going into his first GOP candidate debate. His introduction has raised Republican hopes dramatically. The Wednesday debate and future faceoffs will help determine whether he becomes the consensus choice as the caucuses and primaries begin next year.

The HuffPost-Patch Power Outsiders

All of the individuals listed below have agreed to participate in the Power Outsiders surveys, although not all responded to this week's questions.

Iowa

Cory Adams (Story County GOP chair), Leah Adams (Co-Chair, Johnson County Republican Women), Chad Airhart (Dallas Co. recorder), Skye Alison (Insurance Sales), Roger Anderson (Member, Johnson County GOP Executive Committee), Shane Blanchard (Waukee City Council), Carmine Boal (Former Congresswoman, now works for governor), Steve Boal (CFO, Accu-Mold), Irene Chalmers-Neubauer (Republican precinct captain), Arleigh Clemens (Co-Chair Johnson County Republicans), Jeremy Davis (Councilman), Tyler DeHaan (IT Services), Debra Derksen (PR person for Johnson County GOP), Mike Elam (Organizer, Dallas County GOP), Paul Fell (Santorum supporter), Amanda Freel (State House Repub Staff), Natalie Ginty (Chairwoman, Iowa Federation of College Republicans), Rick Hermann (Sales Manager, WeatherTech Automotive), William Keettel (Former head, Johnson County Republicans), Kevin Koester (Congressman), Marilyn Krocheski, Jon McAvoy (Head of Dallas County Republicans), Isaiah McGee (Owner, McGee strategies), Chris McLinden (Axis Capital, Businessman), Cynthia Michel (Precinct Captain), Mike Nolan (Republican Party noteable), Bill Peard (Waukee Mayor), Rick Sanders (Republican Supervisor), Mike St. Clair (Lobbyist), Chad Steenhoek (Member, Strong America Now), Wade Steenhoek (Ankeny City Council ), Ronald Stenstrom (Romney Supporter), Karen Svede (Former statewide candidate), Rob Taylor (Running for Iowa House Seat), Mike Thayer (Editor/Publisher Coralville Courier), Deb Thornton (Worked in Republican administrations), Robert Wennerholm (Precinct Captain), Randy Yontz (Director Leadership Institute).

New Hampshire

Eric Anderson (Former State Rep/Chair Bow Board of Selectmen), Gary Azarian (State Rep.), David Bates (Rep- Windham), Kathy Benuck (BCTV Host/Blogger), D.J. Bettencourt (State Rep., Maj. Leader), Diane Bitter (Rye Republican activist), Bill Boyd (Town Councilor), Russell Bridle (Former Hampton Fire Department captain/State Rep.), Ed Brooks (Former ME selectman, town councilor), Chris Buck (Republican activist), Chris Buda (Merrimack GOP Chair), Jamie Burnett (Consultant), John Cebrowski (State Rep. - Bedford), Chris Christiansen (State Rep), Mark Cookson (Alderman-at-large), Tim Copeland (State rep.), Jim Costello (American Government teacher), Juanita Dangel (Secretary Hillsborough County GOP), Gary Daniels (State Rep), Ed Declercq (Planning Board), Jerry Delemus (Republican activist), Shari Demers (Activist), Julie DiCarlo (Small business owner), Ron DiCarlo (Small business owner), Bob Duffy (Nashua GOP City Committee), Bob Elliott (State Rep.), Gary Ellmer (Chairman, Porsmouth Republican Committee), Frank Ferraro (Exeter Selectman), Laura Foote (Activist), Mauri Foster (Retired), Sheila Francoeur (Seacoast Republican Women member), Bianca Garcia (Former Salem GOP Victory Office mgr), David Garcia (Salem Town GOP Chair), John Graham (State Rep. - Bedford), Brian Griset (Member of local political committee), Lisa Hansen (Romney supporter), Peter Hansen (State Rep), Pat Hargreaves (Selectman), Jeff Hatch (Salem Romney Town Chair), Ken Hawkins (State Rep - Bedford), Dan St. Hilaire (Executive councilor), Dick Hinch (Current State Rep), Jennifer Horn (Republican activist), David Hurst (New Hampshire Young Republicans chairman), Zac Johnson (Technical writer), Ken Jones (Member of Amherst Republicans), Gary Krupp (Member of the School Budget Committee), Michael Lambert (Resident), Steve Landry (Small business owner), Tom Linehan (GOP Activist), Eduardo Lopez-Reyes (Software engineer), Marie Lopez-Reyes (Sales), Di Lothrop (Nashua GOP City Committee), Stephen E. Ludwick (Chairman, Supervisors of the Checklist, Ward 9), Jim Luther (State Senator), John Lyons (Lawyer), Kris MacNeil (Former State Senate candidate), Joel Maiola (Former Judd Gregg Chief of Staff), Andrew Manuse (State Rep - Derry), George Markwell (School Board Member), Harry McClard (Freelance writer), Patrick McDougall (Budget Committee), Charles McMahon (Rep- Windham), Bill Modis (Vice Chair of Amherst Republicans), Maureen Mooney (Past State Rep), Keith Murphy (State Rep - Bedford), Tasha Olsen (Republican activist), Rick Paige (Loan officer), Michele Peckham (State Rep. - N. Hampton), Amy Perkins (Former State Rep. - Seabrook), Lawrence Perkins (State Rep. - Seabrook), Kathryn Peterson (community activist), Lenette Peterson (State Rep), Lee Quandt (State rep.), Matt Quandt (Exeter Selectman/State Rep.), Tom Rath (Consultant), Fred Rice (State Rep. - Hampton), Jim Rubens (Former Republican State Sen.), Pete Silva (Rep - Nashua), William Smith (Conservative Blogger), Brandon Stauber (Small business owner/recent Exeter transplant), Sen. Nancy Stiles (State Senator - Hampton), Kathy Stroud (State Rep), Chris Tremblay (Activist), Pam Tucker (Deputy House Speaker), Mark Vincent (Chair of Amherst Republicans), Jim Waddell (State Rep. - Hampton), Tom Walker (Conservative Republican), Robert Washburn (Former City Councilor), Kevin Waterhouse (Rep- Windham), Raymond White (State Sen. - Bedford), J. Christopher Williams (Pres. Nashua CC), Tony Zore (Tea Party member)

South Carolina

Aubry Alexander (Charleston City Council - District 9), Thomas Alexander (State Senator), Dean Allen (Tea Party Activist), Charm Altman (President Sea Island Republican Women), Patrick L. Arnold (Campaign and fundraising consultant), Todd Atwater (S.C. Rep. Dist. 87), Rep. Nathan Ballentine (SC House Dist. 71), Bill Banning, Sr. (Vice-chair, Lexington County Council), Bob Barnwell (Richland Co. GOP Spring Valley), Joseph Bates, Jr. (Committeeman/ Richland Co. GOP Dutch Fork ), Eric Bedingfield (State Rep/Congressional Staffer), Lin Bennett (Chair, Charleston County GOP), Rich Bolen (Chair, Lexington County GOP), Andrew Boucher (Business consultant and political advisor), Phillip Bowers (Chairman, Pickens County Republican Party), Dan Bracken (President/ The Auction Co. & Real Estate Inc.), Edward Britt (Engineer), Joe Bustos (Former town councilman), Jay Byars (Dorchester County councilman), "Bob Call (Berkeley County Councilman), "Tim Callanan (Berkeley County GOP Chairman), Mike Campbell (Son of former Gov. Carroll Campbell; co-chairman of Huntsman's S.C. effort), Ed Carter (Small business owner), M. Todd Cullum (Lexington County Council member), Rep. Joe Daning (Statehouse rep.), Smokey Davis (Lexington County Council member), Carroll S. Duncan (Dorchester GOP Chair), Dana Eiser (Lowcountry 9.12 president), Linda Eiser (9/12 conservative), Linda Estep (wife of Pastor at First Baptist Church of Columbia), Chip Felkel (Political Consultant), "Will Folks (Editor, fitsnews.com; spokesman for former Gov. Mark Sanford), "Leland Glen (Author), Chris Godbey (Political Consultant), Susan Grady (Republican activist), Randy Halfacre (Mayor of Lexington), Dan Hamilton (State Representative), Carla Hardee (President, Dutch Fork Chapter of the S.C. Federation of Republican Women), Larry Hargett (Dorchester County Council chairman), Val Hutchinson (Richland County Council), Johnny Jeffcoat (Town of Lexington Economic and Community Catalyst; Lexington County Council member), Jim Jerow (Georgetown GOP Chair), Debbie Jones (9.12 Board Member), Joanne Jones (Republican activist), Grayson Kelly (Fundraiser), James Kinard (Banker, Chair, Lexington County Council), Todd Kincannon (Lawyer/former executive director of SC Republican Party), Bob Kouvolo (President/ MaxPt), Mickey Lindler (Chairwoman for Republicans of Lexington and Richland Counties), Chris Mann (City Councilman), Karen Martin (Organizer/Spartanburg Tea Party), Larry Martin (State Senator), Taft Matney (Conservative Political Consultant), James Metts (Lexington County Sheriff), Matt Moore (Executive Director for SC GOP), Susan Morris (Nonprofit executive director), Mike Murphee (Charleston Tea Party chairman), Brent Nelsen (Professor of Political Science/former candidate for Supt. of Education), Don Nye (Bank employee), Allen Olson (Chairman / Columbia TEA Party), Randy Page (President,South Carolinians for Responsible Government), Gregory Pearce (Richland Co. Councilman), Kathy Perry (Charleston County Republican Women), Adam Piper (SC GOP 3rd Vice Chairman & political director for Huntsman campaign), Zach Pippin (GOP Media Consultant), Tony Pope (Insurance agent), Barbara Pulicicchio (Political activist), Rick Quinn (S.C. Rep. Dist. 69), Dennis Raines (Mayoral Candidate), Jeff Reuer (Vice Chair Goose Creek 9-12), DeLinda Ridings (SC GOP State Secretary / Huntsman campaign), Robby Robbins (Lawyer), Emily Rudolph (Sea Island Republican Women), LaDonna Ryggs (Spartanburg GOP Chair), "Michael Sally (Hanahan City Councilman), "Dennis Saylor (Chair, Aiken GOP), Bill Severns (Rep. for Beaufort Republican Men), Katrina Shealy (Candidate for SC Senate from Lexington), Lanneau Siegling (State Executive Committeeman), Billy Simons (Conservative activist), Garry Smith (State Rep), John Steinberger (Fair Tax activist), Mary Ann Taylor (Charleston County Republican Women/Charleston County School Board), MacLain R. "Mac" Toole (S.C. Rep., Dist. 88), Frank Townsend (Lexington County Council member), September Wellborn (State GOP Delegate), Knox White (Mayor of Greenville), Jennifer Willis (County Councilwoman/ V.P. One Tree Hill), Henry Wilson (2011 delegate, S.C. Republican Convention), James David Woodard (Professor of Political Science, Clemson University), Cheryl Woods-Flowers (Former mayor, Republican official)

Comments

[Djay0252]

12:20 PM on 09/12/2011

They must not have much power or just delusional..thinking WAY outside and just plain out there!

[Kelly Nickell]

11:16 AM on 09/11/2011

Ken Doll can whip Obama with a pistol; a coherent thought, not so much.

It's the age of the "low information voter."

I think the only way to fix that is to pour water on the stakes where the witches are being burned, and point out to the witch burners why putting deep pocketed businessmen in charge of running the country works just as well as putting government in charge of running GE.

I'm pretty sure that organized religion as well, will never let me teach a class on radiocarbon dating in Sunday school, and GE is never going to let the peasants elect the next CEO.

If The Coiffure can beat Obama, it proves that you CAN fool all of the people All of the time.

Excuse me now, I need to go pray to win the lottery, right after I read a couple of articles from the Cato Institute and tithe my winnings to the Koch brothers.

Don't forget to tip your millionaires on the way out.

[nathan nieuwsma]

10:11 PM on 09/08/2011

He's a dick and a bully. Did anyone see the pictures of him grabbing Ron Paul's arm and pointing his finger in his face. Screw Perry in my opinion he screwed himself out of the nomination. Also, I'm from Iowa and I'm voting for RON PAUL

[Djay0252]

12:23 PM on 09/12/2011

Voting because he got a finer is his face?...you don't know where that finger has been...the same with Ron Paul's

[Hoochie]

05:09 PM on 09/08/2011

To all those considering Perry - read impeachperry.com; google Texans Against Perry; research Perry's push for Texas Corridor and the land grab it would have entailed and how he vetoed our congress' moratorium on considering this issue and how he opposed public release of the actual terms of the 50-year deal with Cintra to the public ;

Research the nuclear waste dump he and his commissioners have pushed and how he offered an opposing commissioner the opportunity to switch from the commission to being regent of a university and the fact that the developer of the dump donated 1.2 billion to Perry; research how Perry denied a stay of execution to a deathrow inmate for whom recent advanced forensic evidence had recently indicated the man was innocent and how when the forensic science commission was about to posthumously exonerate the man, Perry dismissed three of the commissioners; and how Perry tried to mandate the Merck vaccine for young girls and google "Perry's ties to Merck run deep."

After you research these and other actions of Perry's, you may rethink if he would make a good president.

[Hoochie]

11:24 PM on 09/08/2011

Correction - obviously not 1.2 billion; should read 1.12 million.

[leeskyblue]

05:01 PM on 09/08/2011

This old hat aged quickly in two hours --

Too bad you didn't wait until after they debated.

On to Friday's pearls of lasting wisdom.

[dfranz]

12:47 PM on 09/08/2011

Is it just me or is HP having some real problems today? half the comments I wish to reply to just sit there and spin.

[Hoochie]

05:13 PM on 09/08/2011

Just tried it.

[Mister Grumpy]

10:13 AM on 09/08/2011

So what mental institution was the ABC poll taken at?.......... only those with mental deficiencies would think any of these yo-yo's are electable...........

[nathan nieuwsma]

10:14 PM on 09/08/2011

I disagree Ron Paul "contrary to what the mainstream media is spouting" IS electable.

[Clevelandinwi]

10:06 AM on 09/08/2011

I didn't know the 'power outsiders' were a bunch of bigots.

[Canliberalwoman]

09:59 AM on 09/08/2011

Surprise, surprise, they thought the McCain Palin ticket would work too! Oh well!

[surfinnonreality]

08:51 AM on 09/08/2011

a fraudulent investment operation that pays quick returns to initial contributors using money from subsequent contributors rather than profit sounds like a ponzi scheme to me oooopss I mean sounds like social security to me. The only difference is that the original ponzi scheme suckered people into investing and social security forces people to invest.

[nixrox04]

08:45 AM on 09/08/2011

A simpler GWB on steroids, the corporate puppetmasters love this guy Perry and will spend millions and millions to put this errand boy in Washington in a directed attempt to destroy the middle class once and for all, put seniors out in street and reduce wages in America.

[gobizduck]

07:13 AM on 09/08/2011

His investments in the porn industry are going to come back to haunt him.

[Bonnie Larkin]

05:23 AM on 09/08/2011

I am so proud of Gov Perry ,
you might not agree with him on all things -- but he does not back down ,
This first debate [ which included Gov Perry ] is just the beginning folks -
Gov Perry IS going to take the fight to obama - he is not going to practice polictical correctness,
And he is unshakeable --
p.s.--------------- he doesn't use a telepromptor-

[gobizduck]

07:10 AM on 09/08/2011

The only 3 things holding Perry back are: 1. His investments in a company that makes porn movies. 2. He's bought and paid for by corporations 3. Visiting sex clubs throughout Texas.

Other than that, he's good to go.

[Bonnie Larkin]

09:37 AM on 09/08/2011

perhaps you should check out the Man's Country -- Chicago's '' grand old bathhouse '' memberships

[Bonnie Larkin]

09:38 AM on 09/08/2011

man's club Chicagos ' grand old bathhouse'

[camelias and sweet tea]

09:30 AM on 09/08/2011

I hope he wins the nomination....NOT everyone in this country votes like the South he would not win.... Wow, use of a teleprompter is sooo important?

[Bonnie Larkin]

09:34 AM on 09/08/2011

yes when one can't think for themselves lie obama - his [ obama ] handlers have to keep him on message - cause he does not even know how many states there are.

[grf67]

03:10 AM on 09/08/2011

perry is absolutely unfit for office at any level.

[doitron2012]

12:45 AM on 09/08/2011

Republicans want to lose so Perry is their man, ....thats the plan and he will pick Bachmann