When early estimates of the crowd, several days before the event, were in the 10,000 to 20,000 range, it looked as if the Response might be regarded as a failure for Perry. The estimated attendance of 30,000 is a good number — almost half of Reliant’s capacity. Perry got what he wanted — a respectable turnout and the unofficial designation as the evangelical candidate, even if his fellow governors ignored his invitation to the event. That said, Perry is now associated, in the minds of some voters, with the extremist views of some of the sponsoring organization, and there are no doubt others who just don’t like politicians who seek to capitalize on their faith. Perry won’t care about that; those folks weren’t with him anyway. He got what he wanted.