Yes, Virginia, there is no Rick Perry
This didn’t get posted over the Christmas weekend:
Perry did not qualify for the Republican primary in Virginia. It’s pretty easy to qualify. Candidates need 10,000 signatures of registered voters on petitions, and must also have 400 signatures from each of the state’s eleven congressional districts.
Every campaign needs to know the requirements for getting on the ballot. Each state has its own methodology. Most campaigns have a staffer whose job is to keep up with the dates and rules for getting on the ballot. Perry submitted more than 11,000 signatures, so the campaign obviously intended to compete in the state. But if they didn’t have enough signatures from the congressional districts, they would not qualify for the ballot. Obviously, somebody fouled up somewhere.
Newt Gingrich, who resides in Virginia, also did not qualify. Gingrich has said he will wage a write-in campaign, although state law prohibits write-in votes in primary elections. Perry has not indicated his intentions about a write-in campaign, but nothing about the Perry operation to this point indicates that they are capable of mounting a successful write-in campaign. The failure to qualify for the ballot indicates what a slipshod operation the Perry campaign has been from the start. The only thing they have done well is raise money, but when they spent the money, they basically threw it away on some of the worst, most unpopular videos in the history of American political campaigns.
Anonymous says:
And given the source of so much of that money, it’s obviously more focused on currying favor in Texas in 2013 than actually electing him president nationally in 2012.
Best blog title ever, BTW, Paul.
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Distinguished Gentleman Reply:
December 27th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Anonymous at 6:30 a.m., you say “currying favor in Texas in 2013″. Do you mean for a 2014 Rick Perry re-election bid as Governor?
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Anonymous Reply:
December 27th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
No, I mean the billions in tax breaks and general largess that will again be up for grabs at the Capitol in 2013.
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XM says:
As if it matters…
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texxas cynic says:
What a lovely gift for the people of Virginia.
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C'mon Paul says:
Paul, you are hardly (read: not) qualified to tell us what is “pretty easy.” You don’t have a clue. The VA process is actually pretty hard, especially compared to just paying a fee like so many other states. The requirement of 400 voters in each gongressional district is pretty tough. Think about going into some largely democratic district, and finding 400 Republicans when you’re drawing just around 5% of the vote. This would be compounded by the fact that there are probably fewer contested Republican primaries in a district like that, meaning that Republican primaries would be poorly attended and Republican voters would be hard to identify.
Some of the blame can be heaped on this generation of tv-oriented, retail, drive-by political consultants, but, as evidenced by the many campaigns who failed to qualify, the Virginia process is pretty rough. It is simply ridiculous of you, Paul, as someone who doesn’t do any of this stuff in any real sense, to claim that it was easy and that they failed for no reason. That just makes you sound foolish. But that seems par for the course with your commentary as of late.
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The Mustache That Dare Not Speak Its Name Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 10:04 am
Dennis Kucinich and Alan Keyes were able to get on the Virginia ballot when they made their Presidential runs. The process can’t be that hard if they made it.
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C'mon Paul Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 11:16 am
Democrats have union rolls. It’s a very different ground game for them.
The point is though, the failure is a reflection of modern Republican political consultants not understanding true grassroots campaigning. It’s not much of a reflection of the candidates.
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Anonymous Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
I have said for years that all the politcal consultants must have the same professors and mentors. This inbreeding has produced a genetically puny group of “guru’s” who don’t have a clue how to connect with voters. Perry’s are the worst performing in recent memory.
The Mustache That Dare Not Speak Its Name Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Alan Keyes is a Democrat? Who knew!
John Johnson Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 10:14 am
Mr. Burka should have stated, “It’s not hard to get on the Virginia ballot unless you are very, very unpopular.” Does this work for you, C’mon Paul?
It is easy for a large, fast, elusive, smart running back to make the team; it is hard for a slow, unprepared, uncoordinated player to earn a spot.
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JD Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 10:27 am
Is it an “easy” requirement? No. But it shouldn’t present a problem for a well-funded campaign for President that expects to compete on a national level.
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Tiny jogging shorts Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Running for president is so hard.
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ellie says:
Hard: Running for president.
Easy: Jogging whilst pretending to shoot a coyote with a sidearm that you keep in your tiny jogging shorts.
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Alan says:
Rick Perry is looking more and more like the second coming of John Connally every day – a social climber who is as ambitious as he is mean-spirited, and who remains convinced that throwing a lot of money around with no underlying strategy is sufficient to win an election. But John Connally did at least get one delegate to the RNC in 1980; I’m not sure Perry will even manage that.
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Robert Morrow says:
The Virginia ballot requirements are very hard. It is just another way the establishment has of shutting out the voices of minor candidates like Rick Perry.
Let the voters decide on the candidates, not onerous ballot “requirements.” This reminds me of Leo Berman, one of Perry’s biggest supporters, trying to shut out the Libertarians by attempting to require them to have large filing fees. What goes around comes around.
Rick Perry’s campaign is incompetent. But don’t blame the consultants or staff.
A fish rots from the head.
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anita says:
Rick Perry is absolutely in no place to complain about how difficult it is to get on the ballot in any state, when his signature is on the most restrictive voter suppression legislation in the country.
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John Johnson Reply:
December 26th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Anita, your use of “most restrictive” and “suppression” in describing voter i.d. is over the top. Expecting everyone to carry an i.d. with their picture on it is not abusive or restrictive. Any argument stating so is lame.
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paulburka says:
Every campaign hires someone who knows election law. Perry may be an exception; I have seen little evidence that they make good use of lawyers. That person must know the election law of each state, including how to qualify to get on the ballot. The campaign may also hire a company that produces petitions and asks qualified voters to sign them. The population of Virginia is 7,882,590. It is divided among eleven congressional districts, for an average of 716,599 people per congressional district. The campaign only needs 400 Republican signatures, or one signature for each 1,791 people in the congressional district. Every county in the state has a Republican party organization–there may be an exception or two–and every county maintains lists of who has voted in previous Republican primaries. The company that is handling the petition drive can buy these voting lists of people who have participated in previous Republican primaries. The lists usually have addresses. This is basic stuff. It is not hard. You can pay people to do it. The Perry campaign screwed up. “C’mon Paul” has provided no facts or logic to prove otherwise. No case can be made that it is “hard” to find these voters.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
December 27th, 2011 at 1:22 am
Rick Perry’s use of lawyers? Well he hired Lin Wood of Georgia to handle all his sex scandal rumors.
At times the Perry campaign was on “Defcon 9″ alert status to handle all the gay rumors.
Maybe they were busy on other stuff than actually fulfilling ballot requirements.
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Reminder says:
Only Romney and Paul qualified.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
December 27th, 2011 at 1:23 am
And Ron Paul is going to get a LOT of delegates because of that …
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JohnBernardBooks says:
If any of you hacks were informed you would know a democrat filed a lawsuit in Oct against the VaGOP causing them to change theie rules for getting on the ballot in Nov.
As usual there’s a democrat lawsuit involved just like in San Antonio and redistricting.
The democrat strategy is to file lawsuits to try to disrupt the republican primaries, because Obama can’t win.
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AreYouKiddingMe says:
I don’t think Perry not being on the ballot in Virginia is going to have any impact on his, (cough, cough) campaign…
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