The Gallup poll
Huge numbers for Perry. He turned Romney’s 23-18 lead into a 17-29 deficit in one month.
By region:
East: Perry 16%, Romney 17%, Paul 15%
Midwest: Perry 23%, Romney 20%, Paul 18%
South: Perry 39%, Romney 12%, Paul 9%
West: Perry 28%, Romney 22%, Paul 12%
Among voters 65+, Perry leads Romney by 40% to 16%
* * * *
Perry is going to be the Republican nominee. His coalition is pretty obvious from these numbers. It’s the South, the evangelicals, and the tea party geezers. What’s more, these elements of his constituency appear to be fiercely loyal. We’ve all seen this before. The only way he can lose in the primary is to make a huge mistake — but he doesn’t make huge mistakes — or be brought down by a major scandal — but he has never been implicated in a major scandal. We might as well skip the primary and go straight to the general election.
Tagged: poll, rick perry
Jurassic Park says:
OH NO!!!
Thanks for the curse Jonah…
No, honestly, I think you’re trying to jinx it at this point.
Reply »
Julie says:
The primaries, not polls, will give us a better indication of who the GOP candidate will be.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
democrats live and die by the polls, especially the ones they skew.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
At this point in 2007, Giuliani was well out front, followed by Thompson. McCain was a distant fourth. But Perry has it sewn up already. Great analysis, Paul!
Reply »
South Texan says:
I feel like crying.
Reply »
Kenneth D. Franks says:
It is a little early to crown Perry the winner. He has not even appeared on stage with the other candidates. With him moving directly to a top tier candidate there will be other candidates challenging him in the next debate.
Reply »
longleaf says:
What would be most entertaining would be if he somehow wins the general election and has a GOPer Congress in both houses.
Then he and Eddie Munster decide to cut off the “Free $h!t Army” cold turkey, including the “unconstitutional” Social Security and Medicare program recipients. As we have seen during the Cheney administration, GOPers are not hindered much by “checks and balances” and so this will also be rammed through the Senate without the agonizing search for 60 votes we see under the Dems.
After that, wait for the boom (in more ways than one). The Department of Homeland Security WILL BE HIRING. The Department of Defense and its mercenary contractors WILL BE HIRING. Drone operators will be selecting targets in the inner cities and maybe even hit a rural “compound” or two.
A book will be written called “F’ed Up” about the unraveling social fabric of the new Third World country in the middle portion of the North American continent.”
Jay Gould’s famous quote from the 19th Century “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half” will play out in reality.
The scenario through early 2017 won’t be any better under Obama, but I prefer to see Perry World play out because of the excitement and unpredictability factors . It will be EXTREMELY entertaining.
Reply »
Cow Droppings Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:24 am
active imagination
Reply »
Crazy Uncle Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 10:08 am
It’s hard to argue with such a thoughtful post. But history shows that free markets countries do not punish their citizens. Large Central Controlled governments have ended in abject poverty and have slaughtered millions.
Why would any Texans want that type of government.
Reply »
Serge says:
Rick Perry is a RINO and will not be the Republican nomonee. You main stream media types can try to shove him down our thorats like you did Mccain but it won’t work. A true patriot like Micheale or Sareh or Herman Cain will be the nominee. Perhaps even Rick Sanitorium.
But not RINO Rick Perry.
Reply »
Texian Politico Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:25 am
You are either insane or a liberal playing the part of someone that is insane. Ha.
Reply »
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:57 am
“Rick Sanitorium”
what was your first clue, TP?
Reply »
Reminder Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Rick Perry a RINO? REALLY?
Reply »
hooboy! Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 8:01 am
Absolutely. He’s too far right to be a Republican.
Reply »
H. S. says:
Mr. Perry, the long, tall Texan, has a better appearance of authenticity than most of the others in the run so far (except Dr. Paul, whose principles seem genuine, but who reminds many of Mr. Perot, another amiable eccentric). Yet the issue of whether he possesses sufficient intelligence may become relevant in a national contest. Texas governors have not distinguished themselves so far in national leadership. One wonders whether Mr. Jeb Bush will be able to resist this race after all. Many conservatives are becoming aware that their principled views are not quite congruent with those of many would-be conservative leaders whose fundamental motivation is political expediency and blind ambition. How many of these characters have ever done any serious thinking? Dr. Paul, surely, but no others come quickly to mind, though Mr. Jeb Bush does have a clear record which I for one would like to hear more about. Conservatism can only be weakened by a lynch-mob mentality or by the inarticulate enthusiasm of malevolent buffoons.
Reply »
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:58 am
serge?
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
“or by the inarticulate enthusiasm of malevolent buffoons.”
I was thinking Shelia Jackson Lee, one of the highly educated ruling class.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Excellent observation Mr. Pot.
Reply »
Helen Wheels says:
Oh how I wish Molly Ivins had lived to see this! We are really going to need some humor as we face this election.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
Molly Ivins would have loved the Donkey Whisper
Reply »
Perry? says:
It will really be too bad if Perry gets the nomination. The US deserves better than having someone with so little substance in the White House. Obama is a disaster already so we won’t have a very good choice.
I love it how Perry can push for his Gardasil mandate and the Trans-Texas Corridor, then can spin and claim he’s going to make sure the government becomes unnoticeable in our lives. Wake up, people, you’re getting played by someone who is the political equivalent of Jim Bakker.
Reply »
Bill Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Hear, hear!
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 10:57 am
“Wake up, people, you’re getting played by someone who is the political equivalent of Jim Bakker”
Obama makes Jim Bakker look like a piker.
Reply »
paulburka Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
JBB — You’re not making sense today.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
I usually don’t make sense to people who worship a Senator who was kicked out of Harvard for cheating, later involved in a murder and a rape, or a president who was impeached for lying under oath.
Robert Morrow Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 12:34 am
Rick Perry makes Jim Bakker and Ted Haggard and Jimmy Swaggart look like a piker. And there is a good chance you will find out about that one day.
Reply »
Can't Trust Comboverers Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 10:22 am
OK, you gone too far. Now you are dissing Jimmy Swaggert. that’s too much.
His CRYING SERMON tops Clinton’s THAT WOMEN, Nixon’s I’M NOT A CROOK and Kenny’s I TRIED TO SAVE HER.
Fiftycal Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Yah, being pro-active about PUBLIC HEALTH or ROADS is real left wing. I didn’t know the Interstate highway system was really a commie plot. I guess we shoulda stuck with dirt roads and horse drawn buggys.
Reply »
Blue Dogs says:
Obama will likely beat Perry in a landslide if the Texas governor is the GOP nominee, but if Romney wins the nomination, it’s gonna be CLOSE.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 10:57 am
just keep thinking that way.
Reply »
Fiftycal Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 5:18 pm
Yah. Obummer is going to run on his RECORD of….. unemployment? RECESSION? Devaluation? I know, MOST VACATIONS paid for by taxpayers. I wonder if he’ll get a rebate on his $50K rental in Martha’s Vineyard cuz the SS is going to make him leave early because of the hurricane?
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Are you having a contest with jbb for most lies/bullshit posted???
So far, President Obama has taken 61 vacation days after 31 months in office. At this point in their presidencies, George W. Bush had spent 180 days at his ranch where his staff often joined him for meetings. And Ronald Reagan had taken 112 vacation days at his ranch.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
President Bush often used his Crawford ranch to work from while many in the media said he was on vacation. President Wilson a pedant with a Phd in History holds the record for presidents with over 1000 rounds of golf,while president. President Obama also a pedant will soon pass that mark, much like he passed the Bush debt in less than half the time.
Just think how much he’d spend if he didn’t vacation so much.
Mr. Smith says:
He has positioned himself to win the Republican nomination. The economy will take care of the general election. The reason all you Austin Democrats/staffers can’t fathom why the country will elect Rick Perry is the same reason that you have pushed democrats in the state to incompetently low numbers in the house and senate. Because you think everyone who would vote for the other guy is stupid. A bumpkin. A redneck. Nascar watching bubba. Your contempt for hardworking americans will deliver the white house, and both houses of congress, to the media team who doesn’t have contempt for the every day guy. Those are the people you should be talking to, and fighting for, and working for, instead of belittling and looking down on.
Reply »
Blue Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 10:26 am
“He has positioned himself to win the Republican nomination. The economy will take care of the general election.”
This. It flat out astonishes me that people with the ability to use a computer and write simultaneously believe that Obama will be re-elected if national unemployment is over 9 percent next year (and well into double digits in swing states like Ohio).
Reply »
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 11:11 am
once more with feeling.
which states will swing? how many electoral votes is that?
i can not only use the computer and write simultaneously, i can also count.
Reply »
Blue Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Nevada, and all of Nebraska flip R. No R states are in danager of slipping. Perry is president. In actuality he likely also takes Virginia and Colorado and possibly Michigan and New Hampshire. Perry has many potential paths to victory.
Fiftycal Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Don’t forget New Jersey, New York and Florida. I guess all the weed being smoked in Kalipornia will keep that state “safe” for the Won.
Jed Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
i wrote a reply to bluer, but it seems to have evaporated.
crux: thanks for the response. i see your math, and the race looks like it will be closer than those in recent past, although it seems that you have to count on practically every swing state to make it work.
though i probably would have given you colorado, too … i’m not so sure you should be counting florida.
Vernon Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 11:44 am
But NASCAR is so incredibly boring. It’s cars. Cars going in a circle. How could you not question the intelligence of someone who spent their Sunday afternoon watching that?
Now, if NASCAR was more like a death race through a desert scattered with landmines, Tusken Raiders and giant scorpions that shoot out lightning; and if it ended in an epic melee with drivers wielding giant ogre-type bludgeon weapons…then I think it would be markedly more interesting.
But it’s not. It’s stupid.
Reply »
Mr. Smith Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Vernon,
Isn’t there a coffee shop on South Congress thats missing its daily Kierkegaard discussion?
Reply »
Vernon Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
I don’t know what “Kierkegaard” is, but that sounds boring too.
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
if weed smoking was the key to electoral victory, then kucinich would be in da house.
seriously, thanks for the actual list of states, blue (fiftycal, not so much. new york will be in play when elephants fly). now there is something to discuss.
so … you need every single swing state to flip. even if you add new jersey or colorado, you lose if florida goes blue. if you don’t add them, you lose if penn or ohio (or florida) go blue.
at least looks competitive. but i wouldn’t start spending your income tax repeal check just yet.
Reply »
Nick Manning Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
im amazed you can even write this. perry has nothing but contempt for the everyday working man.
Reply »
Mr. Smith Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Nick,
Listen up. First, Vernon’s topic today is the Danish National Church and personal subjectivism. But before you go…Perry’s media advisor’s know what the everyday working man wants. And then they message to that concern. (Whether Perry actually gives a crap about those concerns is not relevant to winning elections) The effite Austin Democratic media consultant believes that these people are wrong. That they are stupid, Nascar watching guys. That they need to be told they are wrong, and convinced to become smarter, more of this or that. The Austin media consultant is never happier than when they are lecturing the great unwashed masses on THE GREAT TRUTHS OF THE UNIVERSE. Because, you see, they aren’t really that smart. They just think they are.
Reply »
Vernon Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
After looking up the word “effite”, I’ve got to say, you couldn’t have pegged me more wrong.
The fact is, I just can’t stand NASCAR. I can’t understand why people like it. It’s excruciatingly annoying to me…like watching golf. Both “sports” waste good TV time that could be used to air movies like “Breakin’ 2:Electric Boogaloo” or some really awesome infomercial.
But try making my other tastes into partisan issues. Here try this one…I like the PS3 but not the Wii. GO!
Mr. Smith Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
Vernon,
You confirm what I’m saying by your response. Its not whether you like something or not (as a manner of politicizing it), but that you believe that other people, by liking something, are stupid. You can’t understand why other people like it, as you said. Thus your failure, and your Austin buddies failure, to understand why the average Joe likes Nascar, or Perry, or Bibles, or guns, or xbox360. Its your contempt for others that keeps killing the Democratic party. Because surely, if someone is pro-2nd amendment, they’re stupid, gun toting, bible thumping idiots.
Nascar’s kinda cool. When you stop having contempt for other’s choices, and become a little tolerant, maybe you’ll start winning a few elections.
Vernon Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
You’re adorable. I think I like you.
But you’re wrong about me. I love guns. I love them more than my right hand and internet porn.
Come to think of it, you’ve made about a dozen unfounded and incorrect generalizations about me based on my statement that I can’t stomach NASCAR.
I’m not the one with contempt here.
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
your society may have hit bottom if: knowing that steering wheels turn both ways makes you an elitist.
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 7:24 am
“your society may have hit bottom if: knowing that steering wheels turn both ways makes you an elitist.”
I would say that perfectly describes an Austin liberal. Imagine their joy when they finally discover a steering wheel turns both ways. Then they turn to their liberal friends and with a huge sigh they say “we’re so smart”.
Kenneth D. Franks says:
If the alternative to Obama is Perry. Obama most likely gets four more years.
Reply »
Bill says:
Now that Parry’s in the lead, does that mean he will avoid the debates and the editorial boards, like he did in 2010? Hey, it worked before, didn’t it?
Reply »
Whoa Nellie! says:
This reminds me of nothing as much as 1979-80, except Obama (playing the part of Jimmy Carter) does not face a Kennedy-like challenger. Enormous numbers of voters are disappointed by Obama and fearful of the future. They can say, “No, I’m NOT better off than I was four years ago.” All Perry has to do is, like Ronald Reagan, smile avuncularly, say the right platitudes reassuringly, convince half the electorate that he’s not a horned devil after all, and use that killer line of Reagan’s in a nationally televised debate. Obama’s a goner.
Not that gives me an ounce of satisfaction, since Perry will make Reagan look like Saint Francis and once the rich figure out how to make the rest of us taste good, they’ll eat us alive.
Reply »
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 11:12 am
“convince half the electorate that he’s not a horned devil after all, ”
good luck.
go perry.
Reply »
Top Shelf says:
The only reasons I can’t think for Paul’s contention that Perry will be the nominee is that he’s gotten lazy and is tired of writing about it. The primaries are four months away and I just don’t think Perry’s the type of candidate that wears well. We forget in Texas just how far to the right this guy is and I think that will give a lot of Republicans pause before they vote for him. Having a nominee who doesn’t believe in global warming or evoluation and thinks Social Security is a ponzi scheme won’t win enough independent votes to beat Obama. I’ve said all along that Republicans were better off nominating someone boring like Pawlenty that can make a case against Obama and still be mainstream enough to attract independents. Romney’s really the only hope to do that unless someone else gets in.
Reply »
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 11:13 am
romney might win the independents, but he would lose the whackjobs.
mormon is the wrong kind of whack.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
Well its over liberals, nothing left to do except pack your bags file for welfare and wait till 2016.
Reply »
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 11:14 am
gosh, if only there was some historical basis for thinking that elections are difficult to call over a year out.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
so sayeth the teat sucker.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
I know I was thinking the same thing you’re a teat sucker…
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Do you even try to make sense with your posts?
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 9:22 am
no, do you have a life or is stalking your perversion?
Anonymous says:
They are not difficult to call even this far out and Perry has won.
Reply »
paulburka Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
The general election is difficult to call. The primary is not. Perry is not going to give Romney a chance to get off the canvass. If more polls validate Gallup’s results, Romney’s money is going to vacate the building.
Reply »
Blue Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
I agree. The race could easily cascade in Perry’s favor very quickly. This is the nightmare scenario for Obama, since Perry would then be able to spend the entire primary season attacking him…and in fact, even if Romney and/or Bachmann hang on that might be the best approach for him to take in any event.
Reply »
Rog says:
i feel sorry for all these deep thinking Republicans with so many choices.
Bachmann: Pick me and I’ll give you $2 a gallon gasoline.
Paul: No, pick me and I’ll abolish the income tax.
Perry: No, pick me and I’ll abolish the central banking system.
Romney: Pick me and I’ll give you government health care.
Oops, who let him in.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
With this field – Obama may just win a second term…
Reply »
FredCDobbs says:
Do republicans like anything about Perry other than that the faggy liberals hate him? That seems to be enough.
I knew (and wrote here) months ago that Perry would be the nominee. Obama’s certainly been disappointing in many ways, but I think if the economy is improving at all Obama will hang on. Hard for me to see the midwest or west going for Perry.
Reply »
texun says:
Well, when Congress meets in the real world again, the House will vote down all of Obama’s employment and recovery schemes. If he finds his voice again, that opposition will play out in the media, improving his odds. As Perry is better known, the odds against his winning a national general election will decline.
Ever notice that Perry pretty consistently trails most of the other Republican candidates for state-wide office? He tends to push the greatest number of voters who, otherwise, tend to vote straight ticket Republican. What do you make of that?
Reply »
paulburka Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
I make of it that a lot of Republicans don’t like Perry but they vote for him anyway because he is familiar and he doesn’t raise taxes.
Reply »
Robert Morrow Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 12:36 am
That is if you don’t think gargantuan toll road schemes are not a tax.
Reply »
Fiftycal Reply:
August 27th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
“Toll roads” are a tax? Gee, not if you don’t DRIVE on them. But then ronulans think everything should be “free”. You wanna buy some silver coins?
taxes go up under Perry for me Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
Perry doesn’t raise taxes unless you own a politically-unconnected small business which get hits by the Texas franchise tax! That tax went waaaaay up.
Reply »
texun Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
What I make of it is that there have been lots of Republicans who don’t like Perry, but don’t have big problems with the tickets, otherwise.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
Perry certainly can still lose — remember he didn’t take Texas by storm in 2006, and only scraped by because it was a four-person election (even if Kinky has come out for Perry now, over his disappointment in Obama). But taking the lead in the recent polls means that Romney’s strategy of trying to run out the clock on his previous poll leads is now non-viable, and he’s the one who’s going to have to go on offense in the upcoming Florida debate, instead of acting like his only real opponent is the president.
It could make for an interesting Commonwealth Care-vs.-Gardasil/Global Warming-vs.-Trans Texas Corridor kerfuffle between the two next month. Then it will be interesting to see if Bachmann and the other candidates have decided Perry’s now their main target, or if they target Romney (or skip both and try to just focus on Obama).
Reply »
Blue Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
“and only scraped by because it was a four-person election”
Nonsense. Chris Bell had precisely zero chance to beat Perry.
Reply »
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
agreed. and i voted for him.
Reply »
Blue Dogs Reply:
August 29th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
In 2006, Perry’s approval ratings went into the tank and he managed to win re-election with only 39 percent-39 percent !
Reply »
AreYouKiddingMe says:
If any of the other Republican candidates have any money, they better start spending it. The problem they have is how to get all the negatives about Perry in a 30 second ad. If they will spend the money, and if they will not play nice, all of America will soon know what a nut job we have in the Governor’s (rented) mansion. Do any of them have the money and the cajones to do it? I guess time will tell. I still say the nominee will be someone not in the race now, and I also say if Perry is the Repub nominee, he will be destroyed in the real election. No Democrats, and 90% of Independents would never vote for Perry. And there are not enough teabaggers and far-rightys to get him to the White House.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
And there you have it..in THIS COUNTRY, you can make Cs and Ds at 3rd tier school and become POTUS. I blame Democrats for turning the Presidency into a celebrity position rather than a policy position. Democrats elected The Obama over an experienced, intelligent woman. EXPERIENCE (in Washington, especially) matters. No more rock stars, people! We’re ruining ourselves. No more fairy tales. Turn off the TV, especially Fox and MSLSD, and start reading resumes.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
Amazing! People are disturbed by Guv Perry but are ok with the likes of Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton? Let me refresh your memories.
Ted Kennedy was kicked out of Harvard for cheating, he was later involved in the murder of one of his staff, he pled guilty for leaving the scene and received a suspended sentence. He was also involved in a young lady being raped in Fla. He was an alcoholic. He was highly respected and a democrat icon?
President Bill was impeached for lying under oath. He had his law license suspended for “misleading testimony”. He is a highly respected democrat. He’s a icon in the democrat party?
It doesn’t matter who the republicans nominate you will run them down and look the other way when it comes to any democrat.
Thats what being a liberal is all about.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
are you talking about joe scarborough??
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 7:29 am
“are you talking about joe scarborough??”
did you selectively read again? here I’ll help you “he pled guilty for leaving the scene and received a suspended sentence.”
When did Joe Scarborough plead guilty? refresh our memory.
Robert Morrow Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 12:37 am
John, google “Chip Tatum Pegasus” and you might learn something about both Bill Clinton and George Herbert Walker Bush- especially in relation to the 1992 campaign and Ross Perot.
Reply »
Al Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
I’m amazed at your lunacy. Scandal is hardly the exclusive domain of one party, and any assertion otherwise shows quite a selective read of history. Perry is a good friend of the Democratic party right now–the less moderate the better.
Reply »
Jed Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
what, exactly, do you think hillary would be doing differently?
i mean, she’s 10 feet from the president right this minute. you think she has better ideas that aren’t getting a hearing?
Reply »
Ike's lawyer Reply:
August 29th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
My guess is that Hillary would have (1) been more proactive than Obama in fashioning the Democratic legislative program the first two years of her term; and (2) gone after more low hanging fruit that impacts the budget like the Medicare Part D prohibition on using the government’s purchasing power to lower the cost of drugs paid for by the government, and if blocked by a filibuster on an issue like that in the senate she would have more aggressively and persistently taken her case to the voters.
She might even have educated the voters on the long-term need to adjust the overly-generous cost of living increase for social security, and spent more time and energy defending health care reform with the voters and punching back at canards like the “death panel” issue.
I don’t understand the national Democrats’ passivity on these matters. It’s telling to me that it was Jon Huntsman, a Republican, who went after Perry on climate change and evolution and it was Karl Rove, arch-Republican, who went after Perry on the treason thing with Bernanke. How is it not the Democrats’ job to do what Huntsman and Rove did? Why is it that they cannot find their voice and do their job on these matters without coming across as supercilious or elitist?
Reply »
Anonymous says:
This won’t take long.
On Ted: At least he got in Harvard.
On Bill. HE WAS IMPEACHED FOR A BLOWJOB. Not for lying. Who doesn’t lie about sex? Maybe if you weren’t such an ignorant POS, you’d have an opportunity to lie about sex. But somehow, I have a feeling your sex partner, of you have one, is an animal–maybe a small goat.
Go back to drinking Budweiser and running over small black children.
Jesus Christ.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
exactly
“On Ted: At least he got in Harvard” and that was after he was kicked out for cheating. Thanks to dad’s money. I noticed you left his “suspended sentence” alone.
“On Bill. HE WAS IMPEACHED FOR A BLOWJOB. Not for lying”…not quite he was impeached for lying under oath. I didn’t even bring up the facts that he was a draft dodger or the fact he dropped out of Oxford.
When you look at the left’s icons Guv Perry looks pure as the driven snow.
But don’t let me stop you liberals bash away at Perry it only makes him look better and better.
Reply »
Alan says:
1. If we go back to this point in the 2008 race, John McCain’s campaign was written off as a sad attempt at a comeback, people thought the world was Rudy Giuliani’s oyster, and we hadn’t even gotten to the hallelujah chorus that ensued when Fred Thompson announced (or the crickets chirping when that proved to be as big a letdown as it did). A poll taken this far out is as good as useless.
2. “He doesn’t make huge mistakes…he has never been implicated in a major scandal.” Past performance does not guarantee future results.
3. Perry is racking up gaffes that make Michele Bachmann seem suave and collected (the creationism thing, getting booed in New Hampshire, this is just the beginning).
4. We’ve never seen Rick Perry participate in a debate like the one he will be in next month.
- He will be the most parochial candidate on stage (a never-left-Texas former legislator from Haskell amongst congressmen, a former US Senator, businessmen with Fortune 500 resumes, and a former ambassador)
- He can’t claim the social conservative mantel with Rick Santorum there (Santorum has no chance, but Perry can’t get to the right of him on ‘family values’ without looking kooky, even by modern Republican standards)
- Michele Bachmann has a new sparring partner (fellow Minnesotan Pawlenty’s gone; she and Rick are going after the same demographic; if he allows her to pull him into a back-and-forth spat, it will make both of them look petty and small)
- Everyone on that stage will have their daggers pointed in our governor’s direction; if they want to get to the top, they have to knock him off first; it will be like the superstar freshman who got put on the varsity squad getting hell from the upperclassmen who are infuriated that he’s outshining them
Perry could be this primary’s Ronald Reagan. He could also turn out to be a John Connally or a Fred Thompson. I want to see a debate first.
Reply »
v2aggie2 says:
So one round of polling shows the winner of the GOP primary? A ridiculous analysis by Burka.
Reply »
paulburka Reply:
August 27th, 2011 at 11:21 am
v2aggie2 is free to make his points. My point is that Perry has zoomed past candidates who have been campaigning for months, in some cases years. Sure, there is many a slip between the cup and the lip, but until there is a slip, I’m, standing by my analysis.
Reply »
William Ward says:
Well the best thing about Perry is the Republican party can finally get past the whole Reagan hero worship thing by electing a man who never voted for him and felt so strongly that the country needed a new direction he worked for Al Gore after 8 years of Reagan. I know Burka doesn’t think it matters and he’s probably right. Obama’s election really proved that brand is more important than beef and Perry has a good brand. We haven’t had a president since Eisenhower who actually accomplished anything outside of getting themselves elected. At least we can count on Perry to surround himself with corrupt capitalists which has to be better than Obama’s corrupt socialists
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Really dude? Where are the socialists, Geithner, Jeff Immelt?? WTF are you talking about
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 7:30 am
“share the welath Joe” is straight out of the book of capitalism.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
August 27th, 2011 at 9:51 am
What is welath?
Texian Politico Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 10:18 am
How do you know Perry didn’t vote for Reagan? There were hundreds of thousands of Democrats that voted for Reagan. I’d bet Perry did not vote for Mondale in ’84. Besides, Gore was seen as a moderate to conservative Democrat in the ’80s and was one of the few Democratic members in the senate in 1991 to vote for the Persian Gulf War. That’s one of the reasons Clinton picked him as a running mate in ’92.
Reply »
donuthin says:
Hey, not sure if you are new here or not, but having a clue is not a requisite for commenting with outlandish statements.
Reply »
Texian Politico says:
Perry-Rubio 2012. That’s the ticket.
Reply »
Blue Dogs Reply:
August 29th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
Texian, I think if Perry is the GOP nominee, he might pick Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (the man’s been a former State AG and Judge), New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, or Pawlenty-the man needs a gig.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
this may a hard read for thepedants
Reply »
John Johnson says:
I have to agree with Mr. Burka…Perry’s nomination appears to be a lock.
I have come to the conclusion that the majority of people in the U.S. are as ignorant and gullible as Ted Bundy’s victims. They will embrace the snake everytime if it is loquacious and/or good looking, and tells them what they want to hear…even if what they are telling is full of half truths, and not what they espousing a couple of years ago.
I would bet a bundle on Ron Paul’s winning the presidency if he looked, dressed and sounded like Rick Perry.
I will vote for Perry over Obama without hesitancy, but will do so knowing that if Perry wins, we will be traveling at light speed towards totally eliminating the middle class. The Big’s will continue to gobble up the small’s, there will be no regulation on Wall Street, jobs will still be exported, taxes disguised as “fees” will be increased, and votes will continue to be bought.
All this will be better than the path to bankruptcy we are now traveling. I hope that Perry will study what Puerto Rico and Canada did when they faced a similar financial crisis as reported by John Stossel. Here’s the link.
http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2011/06/15/the_money_hole/page/full/
Reply »
Texian Politico Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
J.J.,
You clearly don’t know anything about Ted Bundy’s victims and you libel the dead. They were not all ignorant and gullible. Most were attacked while they slept or walked down the street. I know this is just a blog, but have some decency sir.
1974January 4: Joni Lenz (pseudonym) (age 18): Bludgeoned and sexually assaulted in her bed as she slept;[57] survived[58][59]
February 1: Lynda Ann Healy (21): Bludgeoned while asleep and abducted;[60] skull and mandible recovered at Taylor Mountain site[86]
March 12: Donna Gail Manson (19): Abducted while walking to concert at Evergreen State College; body left (according to Bundy) at Taylor Mountain site, but never found[204]
April 17: Susan Elaine Rancourt (18): Disappeared after evening advisors’ meeting, Central Washington State College;[61][62] skull and mandible recovered at Taylor Mountain site[86]
May 6: Roberta Kathleen Parks (22): Vanished from Oregon State University in Corvallis; skull and mandible recovered at Taylor Mountain site[86]
June 1: Brenda Carol Ball (22): Disappeared after leaving the Flame Tavern in Burien, Washington;[63] skull and mandible recovered at Taylor Mountain site[86]
June 11: Georgeann Hawkins (18): Disappeared from alley behind her sorority house, UW;[66] skeletal remains recovered at Issaquah site[85]
July 14: Janice Ann Ott (23): Abducted from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight;[77] skeletal remains recovered at Issaquah site[84]
July 14: Denise Marie Naslund (19): Abducted four hours after Ott from the same park;[78] skeletal remains recovered at Issaquah site[84]
October 2: Nancy Wilcox (16): Ambushed, assaulted, and strangled in Holladay, Utah;[92] body never found
October 18: Melissa Anne Smith (17): Vanished from Midvale, Utah; body found in nearby mountainous area[94]
October 31: Laura Aime (17): Disappeared from Lehi, Utah; body discovered by hikers in American Fork Canyon[97]
November 8: Carol DaRonch (18): Attempted abduction in Murray, Utah; escaped from Bundy’s car and survived[101]
November 8: Debra Kent (17): Vanished after leaving a school play in Bountiful, Utah; body left (according to Bundy) near Fairview, Utah; minimal skeletal remains (one patella) found, but never positively identified as Kent’s[262]
[edit] 1975January 12: Caryn Campbell (23): Disappeared from hotel hallway in Snowmass, Colorado;[108] body discovered on a dirt road near the hotel[109]
March 15: Julie Cunningham (26): Disappeared on the way to a tavern in Vail, Colorado;[110] body buried (according to Bundy) near Rifle, 90 miles (140 km) west of Vail, but never found[263]
April 6: Denise Oliverson (25): Abducted while bicycling to her parents’ house in Grand Junction, Colorado;[112] body thrown (according to Bundy) into the Colorado River 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Grand Junction,[264] but never found[265]
May 6: Lynette Culver (12): Abducted from Alameda Junior High School in Pocatello, Idaho;[113] body never found
June 28: Susan Curtis (15) Disappeared during a youth conference at Brigham Young University;[116] body buried (according to Bundy) near Price, Utah, 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Provo, but never found[266]
[edit] 1978January 15: Margaret Bowman (21): Bludgeoned and then strangled as she slept, Chi Omega sorority, FSU (No secondary crime scene)[267]
January 15: Lisa Levy (20): Bludgeoned, strangled and sexually assaulted as she slept, Chi Omega sorority, FSU (No secondary crime scene)[267]
January 15: Karen Chandler (21): Bludgeoned as she slept, Chi Omega sorority, FSU; survived[267]
January 15: Kathy Kleiner (21): Bludgeoned as she slept, Chi Omega sorority, FSU; survived[267]
January 15: Cheryl Thomas (21): Bludgeoned as she slept, eight blocks from Chi Omega; survived[267]
February 9: Kimberly Leach (12): Abducted from junior high school in Lake City, Florida;[268] skeletal remains found near Suwannee River State Park[166]
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
“Bundy was handsome and charismatic, traits he exploited in winning the confidence of his young, attractive female victims. He typically approached them in public places and feigned injury or disability, or impersonated an authority figure, before overpowering and assaulting them at a more secluded location.”
Reply »
John Johnson Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
You’re right, TP… I could have found a better analogy. Portraying all of his victims as ignorant and gullible was harsh and uncalled for.
Reply »
texun Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Thanks John. I’m a member of the fading middle class, so I’m really hoping that Perry wins the nomination and the general election so we can all be reduced to indentured servitude. No more tension. No suspense. We can move along to place 100% of national assets in the .5% of the population who already control nearly half of it.
I’m only hoping that I can keep up with the quota I’ll be given to clean up after the cotton-machines. Thank you Lord!
Reply »
Fiftycal Reply:
August 27th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Awwwwwwwwwwwww. Hasn’t obummer given you some “wealth” out of his “stash”? Didn’t you get that new kitchen? So this election is going to be about “class warfare” and the “race” card and how The One is going to be the new robbing hood, taking from the eeeeeeeevil riche and “giving” to “his people”.
Reply »
texun Reply:
August 27th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Yes, indeed, it’s about “class warfare.” That really turns you on, doesn’t it! Enjoy it while you can. Eventually, even the TP crowd will catch on and your party will be over. The reverse Robin Hood regime that began with Reagan will be tossed out on its ear by the middle class it has exploited so fiercely and effectively. Look for it.
The race card? Why did you introduce it? I guess it really turns you on!
donuthin says:
I pretty much agree with your characterization of many citizens. I have always been optimistic enough to believe that they would wake up just before irreversible damage. Not any longer sure.
Given the choice you mention, I think I would take Obama, but only because I think the damage he could do would be limited by congress. In the case of Perry, Congress would be right on that bandwagon.
Reply »
Al says:
If this race is to be decided by swing/independent voters (which it will be), Perry will not win. That’s why the Mitch Daniels/Paul Ryan exits are devastating to the GOP. So keep the crazy right-wing rhetoric coming from Perry–sign those ridiculous pledges, keep swearing against tax hikes (despite a history of supporting tax increases), and listen to everything JohnBernardBooks says.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
you a wise person, a loser but wise.
Reply »
Kenneth D. Franks says:
If only we were so fortunate to have J.B.B. personally advising Perry it would be a tremendous help, maybe even an in-kind donation, to Democrats.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 27th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
I will gladly help you democrats lose in 2012…wait you don’t need any help losing as demonstrated in 2010..
Reply »
Blue Dogs Reply:
August 29th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
John, if Obama loses next year, you know folks like the Clintons and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are going to benefit with an “I told ya so.”
Reply »
Brown Bess says:
And what if Obama beats Perry? What then? The wingnuts here will find a way to blame it on Bernanke, or the Trilateral Commission, or the Post Office or some such. It’ll be an illegitimate win someway,somehow. Even then, he won’t really be “the real president.”
It’s amazing how many of you suffer from Obama Derangement Syndrome.
Reply »
Alan Reply:
August 27th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Ah, yes, the dreaded ODS. Merck is developing a vaccine for it and they’re upset Perry’s not going to mandate everyone to take it like he did last time.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 28th, 2011 at 6:39 am
sadly if President Obama goes down to defeat it will be due to racism, the last arrow in the democrats quiver. Oh wait the quiver is empty!
What are you going to do now democrats?
President Obama now has a record to run on, high unemployment, government overreach, the president is incompetent this is going to get ugly.
Reply »
Blue Dogs Reply:
August 29th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Brown, if Obama beats Perry (say by a margin of 55-43), then you know folks are gonna say Perry choked like Tony Romo.
Reply »
Kenneth D. Franks says:
Government overreach? Many people believe Cheney & G.W. Bush wrote the book on government overreach. Especially concerning The Patriot Act, and The Department of Homeland Security, all the while using Orwellian terms for names of the agencies and programs created during their tenure. The Healthy Forests Act, would give timber companies an opportunity to clear cut old growth forests that can not be replaced. A War on Terror, is one that can be fought but never won. Our freedoms were under assault more during these years than in our history all in the name of defending them. Much of this should be dismantled and our freedoms restored but it will only be worse with another authoritarian Republican President.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
how could anyone be so clueless? Keep drinking the democrat kool aid the sinking ship needs more fools.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
August 28th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
Funny, the king of clueless complaining about someone else
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 30th, 2011 at 11:51 am
funny? I don’t find Mr Franks funny just clueless, now you I think are funny. You’re the epitome of funny in everyway possible.
Reply »
Blue Dogs says:
I think Obama wishes he should have stayed in the Senate (otherwise no Roland Burris or Blagojevich-gate).
Reply »