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.