Rick Perry Suspends Campaign

This makes me more than a little bit sad.  I thought when Perry got in the race it would be a major game changer and given his record in Texas he'd just sweep everyone else away and we wouldn't get stuck with Romney.  Sadly, Perry's performances in the early debates killed his campaign, and although he got a lot better as the campaign went on, the damage was done.

This should be a lesson for the next campaign.  Don't start doing debates until you're ready, even if it means taking some heat for skipping events in the early going.  It's better to take some criticism for not participating than to take criticism for bad performances because you just weren't ready yet.

Reports indicate that Perry will endorse Newt Gingrich, which is yet another questionable decision by Perry given the "bombshell" interview with Newt's ex that's supposed to air tonight and could effectively kill that campaign.

The Not-Romneys Had a Good Night in South Carolina

However, with so many not-Romneys sharing the win (Newt, Rick & Rick), it doesn't really take much wind out of the Romney sails.  If anything, it just splits the not-Romney vote even further.

Jim Geraghty collected some reactions to the debate:

Chuck Todd: "Romney didn't have great night; But because Gingrich, Santorum and even Perry (that order) shared some moments, Romney has to feel OK."

Kurt Schlichter: "This was a good debate. Our nominee is going to be tested by fire when he faces BHO, who has been sheltered for 3 years."

"I think this debate makes it a lot harder to choose between Santorum and Gingrich if you hate Romney," concludes David Freddoso.
Robert George: "Strong debate for Newt. Perry/Santorum better than usual. Mitt rather weak until end. Ron Paul's foreign policy didn't work here."
Guy Benson: "Newt's = winner. Santorum pretty sharp, too. Romney had good 1st answer, slumped, then recovered in 2nd hour. Perry mixed, Paul incoherent."
Susan Anne Hiller: "If Mitt cant even win a GOP debate this far into the campaign, how is he supposed to beat back the media and Obama?"
Larry Sabato thought the early Bain discussion went well for the front runner: "This subject is a gimme for Romney. 95%+ of Republicans back 'free enterprise'. That's how Bain issue has HELPED him -- within GOP."
Alex Castellanos thought he saw a slip from the front runner when he was touting his economic plan: "Romney: 'I'm not even President . . . yet.' Small slip but dangerous. Can't seem presumptuous or voters will let him know who's in charge."

"Mitt's arguments are so much more generic and modular than Newt and Santorum . . . he's really going for broad, abstract GOP talking points," Jeff Greenfield notes.

One interesting turn of events that will likely occur this week before the South Carolina primary is the announcement from Iowa that Romney didn't win after all, but was beaten by Rick Santorum by something like 80 votes. On election night Romney was declared the victor by only 8 votes, but in the subsequent certification the numbers have shifted a bit. Could this give Santorum a little more momentum leading into Saturday's vote? We'll see.

Political Video of the Day

Why didn't THIS guy show up in the campaign:If he'd run this one a number of weeks ago he might be in better shape today.

Political Video of the Day

The last Iowa video from Rick Perry:

Romney, Paul, Santorum, Perry

That's my prediction for the finishing order from today's Iowa caucus.  This will keep Santorum alive a little longer as social conservatives look to him as as the current "not Romney".  If Perry finishes fourth I think he'll stay in knowing that he could win South Carolina and possibly Florida.  The other candidates are probably going to be quickly gone.

Should the liberal PPP poll be correct, then Ron Paul could win Iowa which is probably the worst thing that could happen to the Iowa caucus because it will render it completely irrelevant.  The only way Paul wins is by getting a ton of independents and Democrats who would never vote for him against Obama to come out tonight.  As long as they register as a Republican as late as today, they can vote.  It could happen, but it won't propel him to the nomination.  The Paul Bearers are fanatics, and I'm sure they've been spreading the Gospel of Paul among the #Occupy crowd and others who just want to cause problems in the vote.

Stay tuned.

Outstanding New Video Ad From Rick Perry

Well done:

Big Endorsement Day for Rick Perry

In case you missed it yesterday, Rick Perry scored endorsements from several prominent conservative websites:

• Red State
• Big Government
• Ace of Spades
• HolyCoast.com

Conservatives are looking at the field as I am and are seeing Newt Gingrich, a ticking time bomb, Mitt Romney, the guy who invented Obamacare and supports both the individual mandate and man-made global warming, Ron Paul whose just plain nuts and completely unelectable. Bachmann and Santorum are conservative but equally unelectable. Huntsman is...???

Rick Perry is the only one with a strong history of executive leadership and assuming he can put together a strong campaign, would be a welcome relief from the rest of the field. Obama would love to run against anybody in the field but Perry, and if you combine Perry with a strong VP candidate like Marco Rubio or even Condi Rice, Obama has a real fight on his hands.

I hate to go all Star Wars on you, but...Help us Rick Perry, you're our only hope!

Perry: Don't Be Afraid to Take Your Faith Into the Public Arena

Don't let the "politically correct police" stop you:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry urged churchgoers today to ignore the “politically correct police” who believe separation of church and state does not allow for faith to be present in the public arena, telling the churchgoers they are “biblically charged” to take their faith into the public sphere.

“In the world today, we get often told — particularly people of faith — that you leave your faith at the door or on the steps of a public arena, as those that I refer to as the ‘politically correct police’ who say you can’t bring your faith into public arena,” Perry told the crowd of nearly 90 Methodists at the First Wesleyan Church.

“You will be criticized. Do not be intimidated,” Perry said. “Somebody’s values are going to decide the issues of the day. Whatever they may be, whatever policies are being discussed in city council meeting or on the school board or at the state capitol or in our nation’s capital. Somebody’s values are going to be installed, if you will. The question is going to be, whose values? Is it going to be those of us of faith or is it going to be somebody else’s values?”

Perry’s charge was a repeat of a similar message he spread at two church services last Sunday in Waukee. Perry never mentioned his presidential campaign, nor did he discuss President Obama waging a “war on religion,” a claim the Texas governor has made in recent weeks on the airwaves and speeches in Iowa. Instead, he relayed Bible passages such as Isaiah 6:8, which reads “Here am I, Send me.”

C'mon Iowa, don't give us Mitt, Newt or Paulbot, give us Perry.

Don't Settle for Conservative Impostors - Rick Perry for President

I read this Red State endorsement of Rick Perry and realized it's the only logical move for conservatives who want to see their policies implemented in government and who don't want to choose another RINO candidate:

If this website has a purpose – if any conservative website or publication has a purpose – it must begin with electing conservatives to significant public offices. We have the chance to nominate a conservative for president and win the White House in 2012. We can fumble that chance away by settling for a nominee we can’t trust to pursue conservative policies in office, or we can make a stand for the best, most conservative potential president in the field. That’s Rick Perry, and we enthusiastically endorse him to be the 45th President of the United States.

2012 is a year of enormous opportunity for conservatives. The sitting president is deeply unpopular and discredited, the economy is mired in the doldrums, and the public’s trust in Washington and its traditional ways is at an all-time low. Tea Party-backed conservative successes in 2010 show that the public is willing to embrace candidates who dissent from the bipartisan consensus – a consensus that gives us an ever-growing federal government in general and too much federal interference and favoritism in the economy in particular. President Obama’s deep unpopularity with independents, together with the growth of left-wing populist protest movements, shows that dissatisfaction with the status quo reaches far beyond the conservative base. But the failure of some Tea Party conservatives in 2010 is also a reminder that to win, we need candidates who are serious, experienced, and battle-tested. That’s Rick Perry.

The Most Conservative Candidate

Perry is the most reliable conservative in the race. He has made his share of missteps over 25 years in public life, as have all the candidates, but when you think seriously about which of the major candidates would govern in the most consistently conservative fashion, the answer is obvious. Perry hasn’t zigzagged or flip-flopped his way through his career, and he’s not overtaken by a new enthusiasm every week. Neither flights of fancy nor bipartisan consensus for its own sake are in his nature. His long record in office, and his base of support, place him well to the right of Mitt Romney and – on the great issues of the day – to the right of Newt Gingrich as well. Judging the men just by their records, Perry can be counted on to govern to the right of either.

Read the rest of it for a recounting of Perry's record as governor of Texas.  He is the conservative choice who  will not only stick to conservative principles, but will beat Obama.

UPDATE: Ace of Spades also endorses Perry.
UPDATE 2:  Big Government endorses Perry.

Gingrich Implodes in Iowa

And since Mitt can't seem to ever increase his numbers, nutcase Ron Paul becomes the leader:

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Iowa finds Ron Paul has taken the lead in the GOP presidential race with 23%, followed by Mitt Romney at 20%, Newt Gingrich at 14%, Rick Santorum at 10%, Michele Bachmann at 10%, Rick Perry at 10% and Jon Huntsman at 4%.

Key findings: "Gingrich has now seen a big drop in his Iowa standing two weeks in a row. His share of the vote has gone from 27% to 22% to 14%. And there's been a large drop in his personal favorability numbers as well from +31 (62/31) to +12 (52/40) to now -1 (46/47). Negative ads over the last few weeks have really chipped away at Gingrich's image as being a strong conservative -- now only 36% of voters believe that he has 'strong principles,' while 43% think he does not."

Let'e hope there's a flight to sanity before the caucuses meet. It's time to take another look at Rick Perry, Iowans.

Political Graphic of the Day

A Freudian mistake from Fox News this morning (h/t The TVNewser):

Among GOP establishment elites I bet Obama actually polls higher than 17.2%.

This could confirm the rumor that Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are one in the same person.

Perry Launches a Major Effort in Iowa

If you live in Iowa and want to meet Rick Perry, you'll probably have a chance in the next couple of weeks:

Rick Perry has a reputation as a campaigner in Texas: He’s dangerous, but even more dangerous when he’s down. The next three weeks in Iowa will present him with the ultimate underdog challenge as he undertakes a last-ditch, massive effort to save his presidential bid.

Wednesday marks the beginning of a 14-day, 42-city bus tour that will see the Texas governor traverse the Hawkeye State, logging more than 1,000 miles as he strives to regain his standing among the top tier of candidates for the GOP nomination. …

His Iowa tour will begin in Council Bluffs, on the western edge of the state, and run in a semicircle across the northern half of Iowa heading east. After a leisurely break for Christmas — Perry has no events planned from the afternoon of the 22nd until the morning of the 27th — the tour will resume with a swing through the southern part of the state and snake back around to the center. Most days follow a pattern: two to four “meet-and-greets,” often at local restaurants or coffee shops, followed by a town hall meeting in the afternoon.

As he travels through the state, Perry will seek to build a coalition of evangelical and tea party voters, often attempting to pick off supporters from his rivals. He’s shown as much in the ads he’s run in the state targeting those specific groups. His fight for the Christian right, a key voting bloc during the Iowa caucuses, will put him in competition against Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

Perry has something that Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich don't have - a record of solid conservative policies in an executive position. And that doesn't include all the jobs and growing Texas economy. That stuff is far more important than debate performances or professorial theories that may or may not work in real life.

You Can't Solve Social Issues With Constitutional Amendments

They tried that with Prohibition, remember?  How'd that work out?

One fault I've noticed with Rick Perry is his repeated suggestion that we change the Constitution to solve certain social or government structural problems.  Gabriel Malor made a list on Twitter.  I've taken out some of the abbreviations to make it easier to understand:

By my count, Perry has now proposed 8 Amendments to the Constitution, the most of any candidate.

Perry wants: (1) a Balanced Budget Amendment; (2) a pro-life amendment; (3) marriage amendment; (4) repeal income tax; (5) repeal direct election of Senators; ...

cont) Perry wants: (6) abolish lifetime tenure for fed judges; (7) give Congress a veto of SCOTUS decisions; (8) school prayer amendment.

The Balanced Budget Amendment wouldn't be a bad thing, but I don't know if I could support any of the others. I don't like using the Constitution in that manner. The document was well-crafted and well-thought out and to create amendments based on changing moral and political standards is wrong. Just as I didn't support the federalization of abortion, I also cannot support the federalization of marriage or school prayer. Those issues should be left up to the states, and if you don't like what your state has done, you can either work to change the law or move. However, jamming these issues down the entire nation's throats via federalization is wrong and I can't support it.

Regarding #7, a congressional veto of SCOTUS decisions, I think they've already got that as does the president.  The Constitution did not create a court that's "supreme" to the other two branches of the government.  They're supposed to be co-equals.  Therefore, I don't see why Congress or the President can't look at Supreme Court decisions as advisory and not necessarily binding.  We've allowed the court to have power it was never intended to have.

Perry needs to come up with a better approach to dealing with these issues.

Are We Really Down To Only Two Candidates?

And one of them is not Rick Perry? This is depressing (from Morning Jolt):

Is it really down to Romney and Gingrich?

The latest from Gallup suggests so: "Newt Gingrich (62%) and Mitt Romney (54%) are the only two candidates Republicans say would be acceptable presidential nominees from their party, emphasizing the degree to which the GOP race has narrowed down to these two men at this juncture. A majority of Republicans say each of the other six candidates measured would not be acceptable nominees."

Our Katrina Trinko runs down the surprisingly high "unacceptable" scores: "The percentage who view Santorum and Paul as unacceptable nominees is 62 percent, Cain and Huntsman 58 percent, Bachmann 56 percent, Perry 52 percent, Romney 41 percent, and Gingrich 34 percent."

We are a very my-way-or-the-highway party right now, aren't we? There's "he's not my first or second choice" and then there's "unacceptable."

At Hot Air, Allahpundit tries to get his head around the notion of Newt as the consensus candidate:

Romney's the only candidate above 50 percent with both ideological wings of the party, but Gingrich is right on the brink -- and his advantage among conservatives and especially tea partiers is huge. (It's no outlier, I think: PPP reports today that Gingrich leads Romney among Iowa tea partiers 35/4(!).) Among those same tea partiers Perry is all the way back at fifth place in acceptability, behind Cain. And Ron Paul, who's always been treated by the media as a godfather of the tea-party movement, is buried at 27 percent, 12 points worse than he does with non-tea-partiers. Thus does a horrible possibility begin to dawn on the press: Could the most radically extreme extremist wingnuts of all actually be pretty darned pragmatic in choosing their nominee?

At National Journal, Josh Kraushaar looks at the poll and surveys the top advisers for Mr. Second Place, Romney: "The goal of Team Romney in the coming weeks: Spend big bucks to raise Gingrich's negatives, and hope he'll fade like the other candidates who enjoyed their time in the spotlight. It's becoming clear that Romney isn't able to win the Republican nomination, but can prevail if all his rivals self-destruct and he's left as the last candidate standing." 

I still think Perry's candidacy can rebound, but he's running out of time. Once the new year hits the primaries will start coming thick and fast and failure to do reasonably well in the early going will doom us to Newt or Mitt. And I don't think Newt will last long, even though his name isn't Romney. You just know there's all kinds of information out there waiting to come out that will hurt him with general election voters.

I Think Perry's Done

It's a shame, but failure after failure in debates does not inspire confidence among voters, and last night's performance probably finished him off:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry suffered from a severe case of brain freeze on stage at the ninth Republican presidential debate in Michigan on Wednesday night -- forgetting which federal agencies he would cut if elected president.

While answering a question about the federal tax code, Perry announced that he would eliminate three agencies.

"It's three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, education and ..." Perry said before an exceedingly long, awkward pause.

Finally a rival tried to come to the rescue. "The EPA?" former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney chimed in.

"There you go," Perry said before admitting that that was not the one he had intended. Moderator John Harwood interjected, saying, "Seriously?"

"No sir," Perry replied.

"But you can't name the third one," Harwood persisted. Perry then tried again.

"Education, commerce and the third ... " After another incredibly long pause he gave up. "I can't," Perry said. "Oops."

The whole incident at the Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., lasted an agonizing 52 seconds.

Voters don't want their presidents having brain farts in stressful moments. I think whatever's left of his poll numbers will probably deteriorate even further.

When Rick Perry is President...

This is what he says he will do - read his op-ed in the Washington Times.

Rick Perry Has a Good Morning

After being too easily sidetracked by stupid things like birther questions, Rick Perry had a good interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News that, if this kind of performance continues, should help get his campaign back on track. From Beltway Confidential:

These days, no news is good news for Texas Gov. Rick Perry. In the first two months of his presidential campaign, Perry's media appearances have been associated with blunders, a big reason why he quickly tumbled from frontrunner status to the back of the pack in polls. But in an extended interview with Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace this morning in Austin, Perry was able to stay completely on message and was unrattled by critical questions about his campaign and policy proposals.

“I’ve laid out a plan, and I’ve got the record and courage to put that in place,” Perry told Wallace, getting at the heart of the case for his candidacy. The clear message was that his new tax and spending plan was superior to Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan while his record as a conservative governor in Texas and willingness to stick to his principles makes him a better choice than Mitt Romney.

“I have been a consistent conservative," Perry said. "I have always been in favor of the Second Amendment, protecting the Second Amendment, I’ve always been pro-life. I’ve always been a fiscal conservative. And Mitt’s been on both sides of those issues. He’s been for a ban on guns in Massachusetts. He’s been for pro-abortion. He’s been for supporting gay rights and now, he’s on the other side of those issues.”

When Perry released his plan this week, one question was whether he'd be able to defend it in interviews and debates. At least this morning, he was able to deflect Wallace's challenges to it, at least in a way that would reassure conservative primary voters.

Perry still has one big advantage with primary voters: He's not Mitt Romney. If he can consistently show this kind of competence on the issues and solid explanations for his plans, he'll certainly win the "Not Mitt Romney" vote and will begin chipping away at the lead.

Perry May Skip Some Debates

Probably a good idea given that his debate performances have been shaky at best:

After a series of poor debate performances in the early months of his presidential campaign, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is backing off the upcoming GOP debate schedule, committing to just one of the next three events between now and Nov. 15.

Perry has struggled in the five debates he has attended since he joined the race in mid-August. At one, he fumbled an attempt to cast rival Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper. At another, bickering between Romney and Perry drew criticism that the candidates were acting juvenile.

Perry hinted at his frustration with the debates earlier this week when he told Fox News that participating in them was a “mistake.”

“These debates are set up for nothing more than to tear down the candidates,” Perry said. “…All they’re interested in is stirring it up between the candidates.”

Although this is probably a good idea, Perry will become the subject of the first debate he misses and everything will be directed towards making him look weak.

I can certainly understand why Republicans should want to skip debates moderated by lefty media outlets that seem determined to generate quotes designed to help Democrats. When they get questions about creationism, abortion, Obama's birth certificate, and other nonsense it's clear the media's only interest in their answers is to what extent those answers will be helpful to Obama.

Unfortunately, this probably won't help Perry in the eyes of the voters.

Political Cartoon of the Day

Seen on Facebook:

Headlines We Shouldn't Still Be Seeing

From Drudge:

PERRY UNSURE OF OBAMA'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE...

Please, please, please, don't let the media trap you into commenting on Obama's birth certificate. If someone asks the correct answer is "Obama was born in the U.S." - even if you don't believe it. Simply put, it doesn't matter and hasn't mattered since he was sworn into office. Even if the birth certificate could be proven false, the only way a president leaves office is by finishing his term, dying, resigning, or being impeached and convicted, and as long as Harry Reid is running the Senate that last one will never happen. There is no provision in the Constitution to end a presidency because of ineligibility. Period.