Am I the only one who thinks Perry is very overrated in the general election?

[Keystone Phil]

If the stuff about him being a Democrat in the 80's comes out then he's dead meat IMO.

Give me a break. Seriously.

[AUH2O Libertarian]

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Forget the general,

He's overrated in the primary.

[NHI]

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Forget the general,

He's overrated in the primary.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Mechaman]

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Forget the general,

He's overrated in the primary.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

It's nice to see that some people are starting to display some sanity.
There is a reason why good ole Ricky has consistently underperformed in Texas.  I'll give you all a hint: it has nothing to do with his talk of secession (if anything that helped him in Texas, trust me).

[izixs]

The rest of the country however is done with no nothing uber religious hyper partisan types.

Yeah, I hate those "no" nothings!

Alas the art of puns doesn't translate well to the internet. :-p

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Regarding Perry's Democratic past (which is not a secret, btw), I don't think it's a big problem.

Just remember prominent conservative Democrats, who switched to the GOP later than Perry, just like Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama. Both Shelby and Perry did a lot to redeem themselves from their previous "sins".

Perry's real problem is simple. He's an unappealing candidate with no support in his own freaking home state.

Despite recent "Perry's running" fever I still think he's glued to his seat and can't help it (feel free to bump it and ridicule me, if he really runs )

[King]

If the stuff about him being a Democrat in the 80's comes out then he's dead meat IMO.

Give me a break. Seriously.

I agree with Phil.  The average 80s Texas Democrat is more conservative than the last 4 GOP nominees for President.

For example, the Texas Congressman who defeated George W. Bush is now a prominent Republican lobbyist.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

If the stuff about him being a Democrat in the 80's comes out then he's dead meat IMO.

Give me a break. Seriously.

[AUH2O Libertarian]

Being a former Democrat doesn't hurt him at all.

He's hurt by the same thing that hurts Pawlenty: no base and no excitement.  The GOP establishment and big wig donors are desperately afraid that Bachmann or Paul wins the nomination so they're pushing him, but like Pawlenty, I don't see him sticking.

My guess is he doesn't jumps into the race.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Being a former Democrat doesn't hurt him at all.

He's hurt by the same thing that hurts Pawlenty: no base and no excitement.  The GOP establishment and big wig donors are desperately afraid that Bachmann or Paul wins the nomination so they're pushing him, but like Pawlenty, I don't see him sticking.

My guess is he doesn't jumps into the race.

Perry may be not making it clear, he won't run, because he want to improve his position. I don't see him running "for real" either.

For President of the Republic of Texas, maybe? But not for the President of the United States.

[Devils30]

The dems strategy should be to hammer him hard from the second he wins the nomination. People may be pissed with Obama but i doubt swing voters are looking for someone who wants to take away social security and medicare

[King]

Perry is a bad enough candidate that Obama's benchmark would only be a 45% approval rating to win.

[Keystone Phil]

Perry is a bad enough candidate that Obama's benchmark would only be a 45% approval rating to win.

Of course. People will forget the recent developments and burn with anger once they hear Perry's southern accent.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'd say it has more to due with Perry being a lousy candidate who has always underperformed standard Republican performance in Texas.

[TJ in Oregon]

I never really understood the attraction some people have for Perry, but then again I am not very easy to please. I am trying to close my eyes and ignore the current Republican primary because I don't actually like any of the candidates. When I do interject myself it seems like I am always negative about the people I am supposedly behind. I am frustrated by the current Republican Party because I don't feel like any of them really want to fix our country. I am frustrated in part because the current crop of social conservatives in particular look like they've just burst out of the insane assylum. It really does seem like a race to the bottom.

I am starting to feel sorry for Obama, not nearly enough to where I'll vote for him, but there's something about hated leaders that makes me start to respect them. I hate playing the role of the opposition because it means your side is constantly trying to destroy a person on the other side.

In the end though, I'll end up casting my lot in favor of whoever the Republicans nominate under some quixotic idea that it will actually change this country for the better, even just a little.

[King]

Perry is a bad enough candidate that Obama's benchmark would only be a 45% approval rating to win.

Of course. People will forget the recent developments and burn with anger once they hear Perry's southern accent.

I'm sure you've done enough research on Perry to know that his negatives go beyond his Texas accent.  After all, you're one who pinpointed Tim Pawlenty as a real contender before anyone else did despite his mixed reviews as a candidate from Minnesota.  This was, of course, after abandoning equally flawless candidates Mark Sanford and George Allen years prior. 

I have no problem with a Southern accent if the words being accented make sense.  Perry looks the part in a suit, but there's little substance.  Every candidate, sans jokes like Cain and McCotter, will outshine his low IQ in a debate among fellow conservatives.

Also, his management of the state was not free of corruption, which is one reason why he is unpopular with his own Republicans.  A perfect mix of Frank Murkowski and Sarah Palin with, yes, a Texas accent.

[King]

I am starting to feel sorry for Obama, not nearly enough to where I'll vote for him, but there's something about hated leaders that makes me start to respect them. I hate playing the role of the opposition because it means your side is constantly trying to destroy a person on the other side.

I agree with this.  I don't have a problem with smart opposition criticizing the leader, but demonization has become far too common in the Internet/Cable news era now that anybody who can log into blogspot can work their way up to FOX/MSNBC/CNN contributor and spout their nonsense.

Our government is set up to work, but our inability to trust it is what is causing gridlock.  The leaders need to lead until it's time to campaign and then we can review their performance.  Obama's attackers started on Inauguration Day with a hypothetical scenario that he was a Marxist and failed.  Bush's second term had a similar fate which prevented anything from being done.  His first term would have had the same if not "saved" by 9/11 and it's a shame it takes disasters to allow a President to preside.

[Keystone Phil]

I'm sure you've done enough research on Perry to know that his negatives go beyond his Texas accent.  After all, you're one who pinpointed Tim Pawlenty as a real contender before anyone else did despite his mixed reviews as a candidate from Minnesota.  This was, of course, after abandoning equally flawless candidates Mark Sanford and George Allen years prior. 

I was never really a Mark Sanford fan. Pawlenty and Allen, yes, but you're making up or confusing me with someone else regarding Sanford.

And mixed reviews for Pawlenty in Minnesota? Please. He was supposed to get beat in Minnesota in 2006 because he was facing the "extremely popular" Hatch. He survived. Doing that in Minnesota in 2006 was enough. Doing it against someone who was apparently very well liked is even bigger.

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Fair enough. I just think his poor electability ratings are terribly exaggerated.

[J. J.]

If the stuff about him being a Democrat in the 80's comes out then he's dead meat IMO.

Give me a break. Seriously.

Phil Gramm comes to mind.

I think he's overrated.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

If the stuff about him being a Democrat in the 80's comes out then he's dead meat IMO.

Naw, he'll just respond "Well, I didn't try to run to the left of Ted Kennedy on abortion"

[J. J.]

If the stuff about him being a Democrat in the 80's comes out then he's dead meat IMO.

Naw, he'll just respond "Well, I didn't try to run to the left of Ted Kennedy on abortion"

Well, considering that Ronald Reagan was a Democrat for a number of years, it shouldn't be an issue.

[All Along The Watchtower]

If the stuff about him being a Democrat in the 80's comes out then he's dead meat IMO.

Naw, he'll just respond "Well, I didn't try to run to the left of Ted Kennedy on abortion"

Well, considering that Ronald Reagan was a Democrat for a number of years, it shouldn't be an issue.

That was over half a century ago dude.

[Simfan34]

If the stuff about him being a Democrat in the 80's comes out then he's dead meat IMO.

Naw, he'll just respond "Well, I didn't try to run to the left of Ted Kennedy on abortion"

Well, considering that Ronald Reagan was a Democrat for a number of years, it shouldn't be an issue.

That was over half a century ago dude.

Agreed. We're talking about the Tea Party here. If Huntsman can be considered a plant, what about the guy that ran Al Gore's Texas campaign in 1988?