Rick Perry appears politically doomed. But so did Newt Gingrich when all of his staff left in in the middle of last summer to head back down to Austin and work for the Texas governor. Regardless, there is no really believable scenario for Perry to recover that doesn't include an intervention of some sort by the god to whom he so fervently and publicly prays. Perry is down to 4% support in Iowa, trailing in estimable Michele Bachmann. He ranks fifth or sixth but still expects to get a BCS Bowl bid to New Hampshire.
The general thinking among analysts was that when Perry called his own party's constituents heartless for not wanting to help educate the children of undocumented workers, his voters went to the ascendant Herman Cain. The voters that Cain didn't sleep with began bailing out on him when stories of his infidelity went public and he began describing what appeared to be a large portion of the female population as liars. Unfortunately for Rick Perry, those Cainiacs didn't reconsider Ricky; they went on over to Newt. Perry's lack of ability to string together a few declarative sentences did not leave him highly recommended.
This must be painful to pretty boy Perry, if for no other reason than the aesthetic insult. The garrulous and rotund Newt, who has to look and sound like one of the college professors who gave the Texas A&M student his C and D grades, is apparently more politically fetching than Rick. But Iowa is a very, very strange place. They grow corn and presidents and the crops are inconsistent in terms of quality. And there are dynamics that can help Perry.
The most obvious is the conservative, evangelical nature of the GOP electorate. In the last presidential cycle, Mike Huckabee won Iowa with the help of a radical organization of Christians called the Family Leader. Run by a man who has been rejected by voters every time he has run for statewide office in Iowa, Bob Vander Plaats maintains an energetic core membership that will work to elect candidates that share similar philosophies, which tend toward ignorance. He has said publicly that children today would be better off under slavery than President Obama and thinks homosexuality is a lifestyle choice. Vander Plaats' influence, according to Iowa media, has fallen off since 2008 but success in the caucuses is about organization and his group has infrastructure and zealotry and it is considering endorsing either Perry or Bachmann or Santorum. (Romney and Huntsman are out because they are godless Mormons.)
And Perry has other pals. They are heading to Iowa in numbers after Christmas to work the phones and try to get someone to speak for him at each of the caucuses. What a grand way to spend the holidays. These include the Texas attorney general and state comptroller and probably a ton of lobbyists who still have to do business down here in Texas when Rick gets kicked back down south of the Sabine River by the GOP. They are traveling to Iowa on their own dime to see if they can resurrect a candidacy that is intellectually gangrenous.
The worrisome thing is that Newt does not sustain as a man of mass appeal. His sundry hypocrisies on lobbying and marriage and his unfettered arrogance in the increasing light of TV cameras are all virtually certain to harm him. And when voters begin bailing on Newt, where do they go? No, not Perry. This may be Ron Paul's time. Mitt Romney might be able to beat the president in a general election but he is too moderate and too Mormon to win his party's nomination. Watch for Ron Paul to surge in Iowa as January approaches.
But both parties ought to think about why they let Iowa have this kind of influence in the nominating process. Nobody paid any attention to their caucuses until 1976 when Jimmy Carter came along and thought, strategically, it might be a good way to gain momentum going into New Hampshire. He was right then.
But letting Iowa play this role now is all wrong.
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Wendell Potter: Why Is Rick Perry Dodging Questions About Health Care in Texas? You Would Too
Bethany Blankley: Mormonism is Not Christianity
Iowa GOP Caucuses May Answer: Whose Party Is This?
FROM THE EDITOR: The End Is Near, Iowa
Perry's plight sidelines GOP govs
Trump the next clown in Republican nomination circus
 |
 |
|
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
Actually they are petrified that if they don't "volunteer" slick Rick willl extract vengance when he returns to the state.
Speaking of the state who is "running" our great state? Perry is MIA, often causing great difficulty for public office holders. The Lt. Gov is off campaigning and Ricky boy doesn't seem to care what is happening.
Perry is very dangerous as he subscribes to Dominionism and apostolic reformation, co-mingling church and state. This is worst than Palin's indoctrination at the Wasilla Assembly of God.
Praying to Jesus Christ is not sound policy decision making. Perry reminds me of the character played by Martin Sheen in the classic movie Dead Zone, running for President who will scramble the bombers and rockets. Perry believes that all of the demons of Mankind need to be cleansed from the earth to ready the second coming of Jesus.
Dare I say, God help us.
Their young people leave as soon as they can.
The only thing slowing the aging of their population is their immigrant workforce, many who are there ot work the fields and chicken/pork/egg processing plants.
Young people are not so regressive, so hateful. Many know homosexuals and like them. They are in no rush to deny rights to women, to repeal Roe v Wade.
Iowa is definitely like stepping back in time a few decades.
Huck's a conservative to be sure, a Christian to be surer, and the antithesis of Newt when it comes to morality, principles and character. I think he'd be a no-brainer in the primary (no pun intended, although if the shoe fits...).
A state that takes 3 billion dollars a year MORE from the federal government than they contribute in taxes.
Clearly if we're looking for people to help us decide the future we ought to look for the wisdom of a state that cannot exist without a massive influx of money from other people to keep them going. A shining example for grifters everywhere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foinavon
“Foinavon, ridden by jockey John Buckingham, was a rank outsider at odds of 100/1 to win the 1967 Grand National. and his owner Cyril Watkins had such little belief in his chances that he was not even at the course.”
Republican brethren, let us pray.
It’s your last hope.
A rare and accurate description of all, with the exception of Huntsman, who now seek the GOP nomination.
Thanks for another sound thrashing of the pretender to the Texas Governor seat. How this f.00.l ever got past the first primary in 2002 is a mystery to me.
And gets a huge say in who will be running for office.
Lots of attention from politicians.
Iowa gets $1.10 dollars back from the federal government for every dollar it sends.
It doesn't even send its share because farmers get such huge tax expenditure breaks.
California has 55 electoral votes.
No say in who will be running for office.
No attention from politicians - except to drop by for money.
California gets back $0.78 for every dollar it sends Washington.
Even Texas gets back $0.94.
It seems that being in the West, far from Washington, has its disadvantages.
We must the profligacy of states that won't pay their own way - like Iowa, Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia, Louisiana, etc.
There seems to be something wrong with here....
I had heard they were on the receiving end of federal money.