I dunno the technical requirements of announcing, but if you google perry announce president you’ll nothing but hits saying he has announced already.
There was clearly a big space between Romney and Bachmann which was waiting to be filled. Pawlenty had the first shot but he fluffed his chance and his campaign is probably over. It’s Perry’s turn now and he has huge momentum and interest going for him. We will have to see how he performs in the first couple of debates and at fund-raising but my hunch is he is the real deal and it will be a Romney versus Perry race.
I have no doubt that the majority of Republican primary voters would prefer Perry to Romney. Romney's best argument is going to be Kerry's in 2004: I am more electable in the general election than Perry. Head-to-head polls with Obama in January will be crucial. If Romney is even and Perry is 10 points behind, then GOP voters may swallow their distaste and go with Romney. The timing of the departures of the other candidates also matters. If Bachmann can really fire up her niche, she may stick around for a long time drawing 10-15% of primary voters from Perry. It will then be a matter of whether they can make some kind of deal.Bye bye T-Paw, hello Rick Perry.
He may have trouble getting votes from blue-collar types, because he feels it’s an “injustice” (yep, that’s his word) that the lower half of the income distribution doesn’t have to pay any income tax. Here’s the quote:
If the Dems are smart, they’ll immediately start painting him as a guy who thinks working stiffs aren’t paying enough, but doesn’t feel the same about rich people. It’s what he said, after all.
Oh joy, to me he’s just W with bigger balls and less scruples. Just what we need!
He needs to run with Plawenty.
Good hair and Plawenty
Goodhair and Plawenty
Woo woo
Nobody else has Bachmann’s crazy crazy eyes. She’s a shoe in for the nomination!
While it sounds like something from bizarro world, what is concerning about Rick Perry is virtually no Texas Democrat likes him or will even significantly work with him. Perry has essentially done everything along strict party lines in Texas.
President Bush, as Texas governor, actually worked very well with Democrats in the legislature and passed lots of bipartisan legislation and built consensus legislation with Democrats. It got overshadowed by acrimony post-2006 elections but for the first 6 years of Bush’s Presidency I’d also argue even a neutral observer would agree President Bush had some notable instances in which he was able to build bipartisan compromise.
It should be very concerning that even as Governor Perry is totally unable to compromise with Texas Democrats. It isn’t necessarily surprising that a national politician like the President may not be quite as good at bipartisan agreements in Congress as he was as a governor, because in many states the differences between state-level Dem/GOP politicis aren’t as dramatic as they are on the national level. So to me it is surprising and worrisome that Perry essentially has shown no interest or ability to work with opposition on any significant issues.
Like I said, I doubt Perry will last through the Iowa Caucus.
Palin will take the nomination.
Crane
This is a joke, right? First, I’m confident Palin’s not going to seek the nomination. Second, Bachmann who, evidence to the contrary, actually has a brain, albeit warped and divorced from reality, would tear Palin to shreds in any one-on-one confrontation.
Here’s my question about Perry: why are his collars so friggin’ high? He looks like a soft-boiled egg with hair, sitting on top of a suit.
The lines of the collar draw your eyes upward to the hair. And really, the hair is what matters. Don’t look away from the hair. The hair knows all.
-Joe
Absolutely. Palin, bless her heart, is just not bright enough to rate a job running anything major. In a major corporation, she’d qualify as an executive secretary.
Bachmann could and probably will end up running a major organization. She has no chance for 2012, but she could easily be a cabinet secretary next time the Pubbies are in the White House. HHS, I’d wager.
I hereby nominate this post as the Best Reason Never To Vote Republican For President.
He’s saying global warming is a conspiracy too, and that we should get rid of all EPA regulations.
This guy is marginalizing himself more and more every day.
Remember The Dead Zone? Rick Perry is Gregory Ammas Stillson!
Since Perry has now formally declared his candidacy and there is a separate thread about it, I’m closing this one at the request of the OP.