At this point, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas is looking long and hard at a Presidential run. Many have been predicting this could happen and some here on Tea Party Nation have said it would happen.
What does this mean for the Tea Party?
Rick Perry in some circles is a lightning rod for criticism. Interestingly enough, even though he is not a declared candidate, Rick Perry came in second in the recent TPN presidential poll, beating out Tea Party favorites Sarah Palin and Herman Cain, though bagging less than half the votes of Michele Bachmann.
Perry has strong support. He has been supportive of Tea Parties in Texas, speaking to a number of them. He has also been criticized for being a former Democrat and being soft on immigration.
Perry showed some backbone this week, ignoring pressure from Obama, Mexico and the United Nations and refused to block the execution of a Mexican national who had been convicted of a brutal rape and murder of a teenaged Texas girl.
Perry’s entry into the race will cause Tea Party members to make a hard choice. The Tea Party vote is split with Michele Bachmann clearly in the lead, followed by Sarah Palin, if she runs and Herman Cain.
We would all love to see a Tea Party candidate win but the question is going to be can someone like Bachmann win the primary and then win the general election against Obama?
Bachmann is clearly winning the Tea Party vote but what many in the Tea Party do not realize is that the Republican vote is not made up exclusively from Tea Party members.
The GOP establishment does exist and there are GOP moderates. The polls that show Mitt Romney in the overall lead among Republican candidates is not simply an exercise in creative writing. The $18 million dollars Romney just raised was not monopoly money.
There are vested interests that want to see an establishment candidate elected. We in the Tea Party can rant and rave all we want about how terrible the RINOs are but the simple fact is they do exist and in many areas control the GOP.
A Perry candidacy really throws a curve ball into the race. For Michele Bachman, as the leading Tea Party candidate to win, among other things, she would need the RINO vote split among the leading RINOs.
That isn’t happening.
Tim Pawlenty’s campaign is flailing like a fish caught by a Minnesota fisher on a frozen lake. At this point, the only real question is, when is he exiting the race. Newt Gingrich’s campaign limps along. He will stay longer but his campaign is doomed too. Jon Huntsman is zipping along on his motorcycle in the Utah desert but so far his supporters could probably all fit on the back of his motorcycle.
That leaves Romney, who is to put it mildly, a very seriously flawed candidate.
Right now, in a one on one campaign, Bachmann probably loses to Romney. But do not underestimate Bachmann. While everyone thinks of her for her fiery Tea Party rhetoric, she has been quietly assembling a team of serious Republican insiders and is building a formidable campaign.
Enter Rick Perry. Many establishment Republicans know how flawed Romney is, but do not have an alternative to him. Perry could provide that alternative. More than one analyst has said that Perry might be the one candidate who could appeal to both the Tea Party and the establishment.
For many looking at the numbers for 2012, Texas cannot be ignored. Obama has said he believes Texas is in play in 2012. Is that just talk? Perhaps. But as we have said on TPN before, Texas is crucial. There is simply no way ANY Republican candidate can carry the day without Texas.
Texans will protest and say that Texas will never go blue. Among the live Texans, that is very true. But when you count the dead Texans that will be voting, the fictional Texans that will be voting, the illegal Texans that will be voting and the blue Texans who will be voting early and often, victory is not certain.
Perry does ensure that a Republican will win Texas with a fraud proof majority. As we move into the serious part of the election season, that is something conservatives cannot ignore.
Tags: 2012, Huntsman, Pawlenty, Perry, Rick, Romney, gop, iowa, obama, palin, More…
Permalink Reply by Robert Sklaroff on there are plenty of reasons....
first, the fed has been in-cahoots with BHO to monetize the debt.
second, the fed has been using YOUR $$$ to prop-up foreign banks (particularly in the EU)
third, the adage "follow the $$$" mandates a clean accounting of what/why they act
fourth, wouldn't you like to know who/when/where/how certain people got special deals?
....ok?
[Brandeis: "Sunshine is the best disinfectant!"]
Permalink Reply by Robert Sklaroff on you are rationalizing....
there shouldn't have been QE1 or QE2
we shouldn't have bailed-out EU-banks with USA-$$$
why countenance ANY "destructive" fed-policies
...comment?
Permalink Reply by Robert Sklaroff on [i must reply to myself because, for whatever reason, the "reply" key didn't appear after Mike's reply to this note.]
WE NEED DATA, and then we can decide what should be done.
Permalink Reply by Jo Gonzalez on Is there anyone that doesn't have skeletons in their closet? I ask you, think, you are not going to find anyone perfect, doesn't happen, unfortunately. Be realistic, we have to have someone who can defeat Obama, and get control of Congress.
Permalink Reply by Dave Koch on My Fellow Americans Rick Perry is another phony. He is owned by the Bilderberg Group. He lies from one end of Texas to the other. He is willing to sell out all of America for his own gain. He is a George Bush want-a-be.He is willing to sell out our Tollways and Public Buildings to Foreign Investors. He wants to build the Highway to Hell from Mexico to Canada and from East Coast to West Coast. He is all for the North American Union that will destroy all of American jobs. My Fellow Americans , what is it going to take before you start fighting back to what our Government is doing to us and our Future for the Kids and Grandkids. Wake Up Americans !!!!! The FIGHT is Now or forever lose our Rights and Freedoms as the Greatest Nation on Earth.
Permalink Reply by Lois K. Knoffer on Permalink Reply by CoChair on
Sorry Dave, there are far too many of us in Texas that has supported him for over 10 years, virtually all of these comments wont stick on any form of surface. His success for outways these petty greivances.
Permalink Reply by Tom Stephens on Permalink Reply by Donald Mack Flippin on Tom,
Thank you for you comments. Quite accurate. I am really getting sick of all of the conspiracies
that get posted on this website. Has Ron Paul taken over the majority of the posts on this
Tea Party Nation website? Sometimes, I wonder . . .
The New World Order and the Bilderbergs. Gaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like you, I don't agree with everything Rick Perry has done, but I see him as being a hoot and
a holler better than the RINO-wing candidates running for the nomination. And such stupid
statements made by the conspiracy crowd: "Most of the new jobs created in Texas have been
minimum wage jobs . . . more minimum wage jobs than anywhere else in the Free World!!!!!"
Okay, nut-jobs, get real: You can live better in Texas on minimum wages than you can in
Illinois if you're making $15.00 per hour!!! Go figure!
And someone said that taxes have been raised drastically in Texas under Governor Perry(???)
How so? I was paying 8.25% sales tax when Perry took over from George W. Bush, and I am
still paying the same rate. My property taxes have not increased, and we have no state income
tax. Where is this great tax increase?????
Governor Perry is not my first choice, but I do believe he can help us win. THAT IS THE POINT:
WE MUST WIN!
Semper Fi!
Permalink Reply by Donald Mack Flippin on Jim H.
10/4 on your last. But don't tell the conspiracy nuts. They'll really go nuts!!!
Semper Fi!
Permalink Reply by Garry Barrett on © 2013 Created by Judson Phillips.
