Rick Perry, Again?

by JASmius



Sure, why not?  It's not as if the GOP has very many candidates, after all:

“America is facing a time of testing, and it’s clear that we need principled leadership and an optimistic vision to see us through after eight years of the Obama Administration,” Perry wrote in an email to supporters. “Rick and I have been talking a lot about what the future holds for our great country, and the role our family can play in creating an America of unlimited opportunity for our children and grandchildren. We are so excited to share our decision with you, and hope you will join us on June 4th in Dallas for a major announcement!”

It wasn’t long before that “special announcement” was revealed as the likely unveiling of Rick Perry’s second presidential bid.

Don't get me wrong, folks, I like Rick Perry.  After two-term Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty pathetically crashed and burned early on (at the hands of Michelle Bachmann, no less), Governor Perry moved to the top of my 2012 list, as he did to the top of the Republican primary polls.  Multi-term governor of one of the largest States in the country, unchallengeable economic record, on the front lines against the passive Latin American invasion - Rick Perry had it all.  So much so that even the hangover attached to his predecessor in Austin couldn't stop him.

And then came this:



It didn't matter that Governor Perry was coming off of back surgery at the time, and thus was "playing hurt" - chronic pain has been known to affect one's concentration, especially if you're standing up on a debate stage for an hour and a half - this near-minute of dead air did him in, both for 2012 and for all time.

Is that fair?  Of course not.  Was the late Gerald Ford - a multi-sport athlete in his youth - the klutz of Chevy Chase's indelible Saturday Night Live depictions after his one stumble down the stairs of Air Force One?  Not at all.  But the low-information voters that make up the overwhelming majority of the American electorate, and vote as the media instructs them to, are dominated by the most superficial of factors - remember Mitt Romney's dog on the car roof, "the 47%," and "binders full of women"? - and thus Americans today remember President Ford as a buffoon, and they know Rick Perry as the guy who made George W. Bush look and sound like a Rhodes Scholar.  All because of that one-time brain fart.

And current polling reflects it:

Perry currently sits in ninth place in national polling, according to a Real Clear Politics analysis of recent figures, and hasn’t sniffed more than four percent of the vote in any recent polling from Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina.

But Perry has been barnstorming the early primary and caucus states since he left the governor’s mansion early this year, heralding his economic record as head of the state that had created the most jobs in the country last year.

What does the latter paragraph tell you in light of the first paragraph?  Answer: All you need to know.

Still, Governor Perry moves immediately to #2 of my list of GOP contenders, right behind Governor Walker.  For whatever that's worth.

You want me to quantify what that's worth?  Give me fifty-three seconds, I'm sure I can come up with something.....