The General Election: Perry v. Obama

[NHI]

On November 26th, all seemed calm at Romney Headquarters. After a busy day of campaigning through New Hampshire, the candidate seemed content. Despite a recent influx from Newt Gingrich, Romney dismissed the notion that the disgraced former Speaker of the House would challenge him for the nomination. He went to bed that night counting the days until The New Hampshire Primary...

"I'm going to be the nominee."

Romney v. Gingrich:

17% - 39%

The sudden rise to the top of the pack by Newt Gingrich rattled the Romney campaign in a big way. They had survived the flirtations with Michele Bachmann, the rise and fall of Rick Perry, the explosion and implosion of Herman Cain's campaign, and now Gingrich. But, Gingrich was different. He was not like the others. For the first time the Romney campaign began to examine the real possibility that Gingrich could destroy his candidacy.

In the following days Romney's campaign suffered another blow. With the exit of Herman Cain, the former Godfather's Pizza executive endorsed Gingrich, proudly calling him the man who is the most electable, the most conservative and the man who will be the next President of the United States.
The Romney campaign tried to counter the endorsement with the announcement of Bob McDonald, but to no avail. The momentum was building around Gingrich.

As Romney's campaign weakened and Gingrich led the pack the other candidates, particularly Huntsman and Perry hoped to capitalize on the new shakeup in the race. Huntsman was hoping to gain traction in New Hampshire, while Perry was just hoping for a comeback.

"This race has been shaken up so many times it's hard to keep count. But it's clear to me that Mitt isn't going to be the nominee, and I don't think Gingrich is going to be the nominee. Now that don't leave a lot of options left. So I ask you to look at my record and you'll see that I am the true conservative in this race and I'll be the one who will beat the President come November of 2012."

"I still like our chances here. I think we're going to do well in New Hampshire. Because the people of New Hampshire like an underdog and I'm going to be that underdog."

As Gingrich continued to rise, Romney continued to slip and Huntsman hoped to capitalize on Romney's fallings in New Hampshire, while Perry played to his strengths in Iowa and South Carolina. Both campaigns saw openings, the question remained, how to exploit them.

[NHI]

"You have no credibility on issues that are important to the conservative base. If your idea is pandering and believing that somehow that's rational thoughts, I'm completely astounded."

"Newt, the fact that you're calling on me for being a flip-flopper, while you yourself having changed positions is flip flop on itself."

"If you're referring to the ad I did with Nancy Pelosi, I have acknowledged it was dumb idea. I regret it,"

"That's not-"

"Excuse me, this is my rebuttal. I have acknowledged my mistakes. You have run away from your stances on abortions, gay marriage climate change, the bailouts, and all the time repeating the tired phrase, I'm solid on issues."

The debate seemed to damage Romney even more. Gingrich had cemented the image of a flip flopper onto the governor and it appeared that it could not be shaken. However, Gingrich in turn hurt himself in the debate. He charged the other candidates and came off as a bully and arrogant at times, even going as far to call himself the eventual nominee.

Iowa:

Gingrich: 29%

Paul: 19%

Perry: 14%

Romney: 13%

Bachmann: 8%

Santorum: 7%

Huntsman: 1%

Undecided: 9%

The Romney campaign received ever worse news when a new poll released in mid December showed the former Massachusetts governor had slipped to fourth place in Iowa, behind Paul and Perry. Gingrich led the pack with twenty-nine percent, with Ron Paul ten points behind. Perry was seen as the surprise candidate, having jumped up to third place and surpassing Mitt Romney.

"We need someone who can beat Barack Obama in November and I believe I'm that candidate. Speaker Gingrich has spent his career in Washington and government. So has Rick Perry, Huntsman and all the other candidates running. I spent four years in government, the rest of my career has been in the private sector."

However, Romney's argument was beginning to fade. Gingrich's lead was cemented for the most part in Iowa, and Romney's lead in New Hampshire was crumbling.

New Hampshire:

Romney: 29%

Gingrich: 20%

Huntsman: 19%

Paul: 15%

Perry: 8%

Bachmann: 3%

Santorum: 2%

Undecided: 4%

South Carolina:

Gingrich: 28%

Romney: 18%

Perry: 14%

Paul: 11%

Bachmann: 10%

Santorum: 6%

Huntsman: 3%

[Vote UKIP!]

Interesting.

Does the title reference Romney or Gingrich?

[NHI]

Iowa Caucus:

The countdown of the Iowa Caucus saw Newt Gingrich as the leader of the pack for the nomination, with Romney slipping away into obscurity. Many pundits declared him to the be the Hillary Clinton candidate of 2012, one who seemed inevitable, yet became unlikely as the voting season approached.

"We're just waiting for the votes to be cast, so we can wrap this up quickly and go onto defeat Barack Obama."

Results:

Gingrich: 25%

Paul: 20%

Perry: 17%

Santorum: 14%

Romney: 12%

Bachmann: 8%

Huntsman: 1%

The results came as a shock to many across the political establishment. Gingrich, carried Iowa, but by a much smaller margin than projected. Ron Paul came in a close second, followed by Perry who declared his campaign was on the upward swing. However the surprise of the night was Santorum who came in fourth ahead of Mitt Romney who came in a distant fifth place.

The Romney campaign wrote off Iowa, but many in the media declared his place in Iowa as disastrous, given he was still seen as the frontrunner for the nomination. With New Hampshire just days away many wondered if Huntsman would capitalize on Romney's weakness and try to go for the gold.

"Sure we're disappointed, but we're going to go forward, because this race is far from over, and you and people across this country know it."

New Hampshire:

Romney: 25%

Gingrich: 24%

Huntsman: 20%

Paul: 14%

Perry: 10%

Santorum: 5%

Bachmann: 2%

Following a disappointing showing in Iowa Michele Bachmann ended her campaign, but did not offer an endorsement. Saying, "We'll see what's going to happen over the next few contests."
Santorum who many thought would end his campaign, but with his strong showing in Iowa Santorum carried on.

"We've staked out our whole campaign in this state. So you guy need to turn out and turn out in droves, because this country needs to puts it's right foot forward and we cannot take four more years of this kind of leadership, from both failed democrats and some republicans."

Romney's campaign continued to stress the importance of New Hampshire, but began to examine the possibility of a Gingrich win.

In the days leading up to New Hampshire The Nashua Telegraph and the Concord Monitor offered their endorsements to Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich respectively. The one for Gingrich was seen as likely, but the Huntsman one shocked the political establishment. When asked about the endorsement, "I knew we'd catch fire eventually."

The results on Primary night in New Hampshire dragged on longer than suspected, with Romney and Gingrich trading spots all night. Huntsman was seen as the spoiler of the evening and likely ciphered off votes from Romney. Ron Paul also continued to poll well in New Hampshire, but not enough to overtake the top three candidates.

Finally at 11:22, three hours after the polls closed Mitt Romney was the projected winner in the New Primary.

Results:

Romney: 27.8%

Gingrich: 27.1%

Huntsman: 21.4%

Paul: 14.3%

Perry: 6.3%

Santorum: 1.1%

Santorum ended his bid early in the evening in New Hampshire and endorsed Newt Gingrich. Rick Perry largely ignored New Hampshire from the start, so the results did not cause much change in his campaign's plan going forward. For Huntsman, who was credited for being the spoiler received considerable praise from his support, while Newt Gingrich touted himself as the real winner of the night.

"This was supposed to be Governor Romney's firewall and tonight we nearly overtook him. This shows where the momentum is and clearly from tonight's narrow results we're pressing forward to South Carolina, Florida."

The Romney campaign still sounded victorious, albeit meekly. He had narrowly defeated Gingrich in the state he was supposed to run away with. The campaigned assessed it's strategy going forward and while they made no acknowledgment publicly, internally the campaign began to collapse as the momentum began to shift towards Newt Gingrich.

However, even as the dust in New Hampshire barely settled a new poll in South Carolina shifted a small shift in the race. Rick Perry who many thought was finished had risen to second place in the polls in the important nominating state.

South Carolina:

Gingrich: 27%

Perry: 26%

Romney: 16%

Paul: 14%

Huntsman: 10%

The shocker was Romney's fall to third place in South Carolina, where it now seemed it was a race between Newt and Perry. The Romney campaign in an effort to make a comeback turned their efforts towards Huntsman who they saw the spoiler, and what began was a series of attack ads against the former governor and ambassador.

Florida:

Gingrich: 35%

Perry: 25%

Romney: 19%

Huntsman: 4%

Paul: 3%

[Simfan34]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Who is in second? Perry?

[NHI]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Who is in second? Perry?

Yes, thanks for catching it.

[cavalcade]

Interesting.

Does the title reference Romney or Gingrich?

Or Perry...

[NHI]

Heading into South Carolina Perry launched a series of attacks against Gingrich, particularly one focusing on his ad with Nancy Pelosi. Gingrich rebuked the attacked saying, "I have acknowledged it was a dumb idea. I regret it, now the fact that Governor Perry is taking part in this illustrates how desperate his campaign is.

However, in the days leading up to South Carolina Gingrich's luck finally ran out. The former Speaker of the House was confronted by a gaffe, made none other than by himself. Gingrich spoke into what he believed to be a turned of mic and spoke to a voter who approached, that Pres. Obama is "a socialistic bum who merely got lucky because he came from a broken home, and he is a person of color and that is the facts."

Gingrich received enormous flack for the remarks and was chided by Obama's reelection campaign for such insensitive language. Yet, when confronted on it, Gingrich only made the matter worse. "What I said is not a lie, and the fact it is being deliberately distorted is a prime example of what the left does to this country. I am simply stated facts and for those who see beyond just facts I'm truly sorry for you."

The Gingrich flub which all knew would eventually come, though came later than expected derailed his campaign going into South Carolina, allowing Rick Perry to seize the moment and to  carry the state. Romney beat expectations and came in second, though with not enough support to overtake Perry.

Results:

Perry: 30%

Romney: 24%

Gingrich: 19%

Paul: 14%

Huntsman: 8%

With a lack of funding and a weak infrastructure going into Florida Huntsman announced that Florida would be his last stand, and that unless he made serious inroads he would be ending his campaign.

With Gingrich apparently sidelined the race resumed to its original prediction. A Perry Romney fight. In a debate leading up to Florida the two stayed on talking points and diverted from attacking each other. Gingrich tried to regain the momentum, but found himself losing more ground in a state where he held a commanding lead. Florida's race shaped down to Romney and Perry.

Florida:

Romney: 34%

Perry: 34%

Gingrich: 17%

Paul: 7%

Huntsman: 4%

Results:

Romney: 36%

Perry: 34%

Gingrich: 15%

Paul: 8%

Huntsman: 4%

In a close contest Romney managed to trump Perry in Florida and delivered his first significant win of the season. Many pundits declared that Romney has reestablished himself as the frontrunner, but in his victory speech he treaded cautiously.

"As you know, this race is far from over, but tonight we've showed America what a comeback is and I hope this trend continues from here on out.

Huntsman ended his campaign following a last place finish in the state, while Gingrich remained mum on his decision. "There' still plenty of time left."

Following Florida, Romney snatched a second straight victory in the Iowa Caucus, where he trounced Perry. Romney then went on to carry the Maine Caucus, making it his third straight victory.

Results:

Romney: 51%

Perry: 23%

Paul: 20%

Gingrich: 4%

Results:

Romney: 40%

Perry: 38%

Gingrich: 11%

Paul: 7%

The Romney campaign was on a high and began focusing it's attention onto the three contests on February 7th. Perry was the favorite in Missouri, though there would be no delegates awarded to the winner in the primary. As for Colorado Romney held a narrow lead, but led Perry overwhelmingly in Minnesota. As for Gingrich, the former speaker ended his campaign right before the contests and bowed out of the race and offered no endorsement right away saying, "I'll wait until Super Tuesday and then see who the winner will be."

On February 7th, Perry ran away with Missouri, but lost Minnesota badly to Romney. Yet the surprise of the night was his upset over Romney in Colorado, a state he was a favored to win.

Results: Missouri

Perry: 59%

Romney: 35%%

Paul: 3%

Results: Minnesota

Romney: 61%

Perry: 33%

Paul: 4%

Results: Colorado

Perry: 50%

Romney: 45%

Paul: 2%

The Romney campaign began to look towards the Arizona and Michigan contests, where they hoped to score two wins, and then wrap the nomination up by Super Tuesday. However with Gingrich now out of the race and Perry snatching up much of his vote and the tea party support, some wondered if Romney would still be the nominee, despite victories in New Hampshire and Florida.

"Romney barely won New Hampshire and that's an understatement. He really lost that state. Truly he should have been done after that contest, because his victory was so terrible. However, Gingrich destroyed himself, as I suspected he would and Huntsman failed to make traction. What you have here is a case of someone getting lucky. Romney has been lucky throughout this entire race. From Bachmann to Cain, and now Gingrich. I think the campaign wanted to run against Perry, because they believe he can be beaten, but I would not underestimate him and the reason is, he's the only one left. There is no other candidate behind Perry who could pose a challenge to Romney. Perry is the Anti-Romney candidate and we will see if the Anti-Romney is strong enough to prevent him from winning the nomination. Because now the tea party support has to go to Perry, they're not going to go to Paul. They'll back Perry, and now comes the part where we'll see if Romney can survive the challenge."

[NHI]

Amid all the excitement and indeed disorganization on the republican side, the US economy still suffered. Though in December of 2011 is saw an uptick, with unemployment dropping to 8.6%, the joy was short lived. Though the unemployment fell to 8.4% by February, by the first of March it hadn't risen back up to 8.7%. The Holiday Period as it was called had come to an end. With an economic downturn the nomination seemed assured to be Romney's, but it was not that simple.
With the race now between him and Perry, the contest really became over who was the more conservative candidate and without question that candidate was Perry.

"We've got a real good chance this run, while settle for anything other than real, true, all American conservatism."

Match ups:

Romney v. Obama

45% - 42%

Perry v. Obama

40% - 49%

The electability argument was all Romney had in his arsenal, however like with the flirtations with Cain, Bachmann, Gingrich and even Trump electability was not in the thought process of the GOP Base.

Polls:

Arizona:

Perry: 48%

Romney: 46%

Michigan:

Romney: 59%

Perry: 37%

[Simfan34]

This story has taken an unexpected turn. Go Romney, for our sake.

[NHI]

Romney campaigned heavily in Arizona, despite having the endorsements of John McCain and Dan Quayle.

As for Rick Perry he received the endorsement of Jan Brewer, which came as a shock to many on the Romney campaign, as they expected her to endorse him.

"We're going to have a law and order president if I'm elected, and I am honored to have the endorsement of Gov. Jan Brewer."

The candidates continued fighting for support in the Grand Canyon State. Many pundits figured that Perry needed to carry Arizona, for he if lost both to Romney he'd lose traction going into Super Tuesday.

Results: Michigan

Romney: 61%

Perry: 36%

Paul: 2%

Romney swept the floor with Perry in Michigan, but the results in Arizona were longer to produced. Most pundits believed Romney would ultimately win the state, given that he had better organization in the state, but despite a narrow victory Rick Perry carried it.

Results: Arizona

Perry: 49.9%

Romney: 47.4%

Paul: 2.0%

"We're going on from here."

Following the contests Romney's surrogate Chris Christie campaigned for Mitt Romney, touting him as the only candidate who could beat Barack Obama. He knocked Rick Perry for what he called, "Blowing out of proportions his conservative bonafides."

"Mitt is the man we need in Washington to undo the damaged caused by President Obama. We need someone who has managed a business, someone who has been a governor and someone who knows how to lead. Mitt meets all three criterion."

Romney v. Perry:

Romney: 45%

Perry: 44%

Match ups:

Romney v. Obama:

Romney: 46%

Obama: 44%

Perry v. Obama:

Obama: 48%

Perry: 41%

[Niemeyerite]

Guess who'll be the nominee.

Anyways, I'm enjoying this

[NHI]

March 6th, 2012, Super Tuesday. The Romney campaign knew that this is where they needed to have a strong show if they were to make it to the nomination out of the eleven contest the campaign set a ceiling for carrying at least five of the contest anything less would be considered a defeat. Having won the Washington Caucus a few days earlier the Romney campaign felt energized, while the Perry campaign was hoping for a miracle.

Super Tuesday:

States in the eastern part of the United States went first: Massachusetts and Vermont went for Romney. While states like Georgia and Tennessee went for Perry. The battleground state of Virginia was strongly contested by the Romney campaign. Gov. McDonnell had decided against backing either candidate, a move which angered the Romney campaign.

Results: Massachusetts

Romney: 66%

Perry: 31%

Paul: 1%

Results: Vermont

Romney: 55%

Perry: 42%

Paul: 2%

Results: Georgia

Perry: 56%

Romney: 40%

Paul: 3%

Results: Tennessee

Perry: 57%

Romney: 39%

Paul: 3%

As the night went on other states fell into line for Perry. He carried Oklahoma, Texas and Alaska. While Romney took Idaho and North Dakota. Virginia and Ohio remained in question throughout much of the night and into the early morning hours.

Results: Oklahoma

Perry: 57%

Romney: 40%

Paul: 2%

Results: Texas

Perry: 59%

Romney: 37%

Paul: 3%

Results: Alaska

Perry: 49%

Romney: 45%

Paul: 5%

Results: Idaho

Romney: 55%

Perry: 42%

Paul: 2%

Results: North Dakota

Romney: 55%

Perry: 41%

Paul: 3%

Finally around 1:30 AM Ohio was called and it went for Perry, causing a serious blow to the Romney campaign, but he did managed to beat Perry in Virginia.

Results: Ohio

Perry: 48.9%

Romney: 48.6%

Paul: 1.5%

Results: Virginia

Romney: 49.5%

Perry: 49.0%

Paul: 1.1%

The Romney campaign touted victory, having carried Virginia and won what they set out to win. While Perry carried one more state than Romney the media declared the evening a draw, with no candidate getting the better of the other. From this point forward the media saw the rest of the primary season playing out like 2008 between Hillary and Obama.
Yet, the Romney campaign saw things differently. Of the twenty three contest so far Romney had twelve to Perry's ten. Though they were prepared for a long fight, they were beginning to see the goal post, the only problem that remained was convincing tea party supporters to get on board with Romney.

Romney

Perry

Gingrich

Tea Party Support:

Perry: 59%

Romney: 33%

[Niemeyerite]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

No way

[NHI]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

No way

Oops. Thanks for catching that.
Perry: 59%
Romney: 33%

[NHI]

I'm really the outsider in this race. Governor Romney has been running for president for five years. It's time for a real change in Washington and I'll be that agent of change. You want a part time Congress, you want a balanced budget I'll bring it to you."

"Do you want an Obama landslide? Nominate Governor Perry we'll have four more year of Obama. I will beat Barack Obama."

Following Super Tuesday Mitt Romney carried the Wyoming Caucus. Perry dismissed the win and focused on winning the remaining contests in March.

Results: Wyoming

[b Perry: 50%[/b]

Romney: 45%

Paul: 3%

The March contests finished up with both candidates drawing about even. Romney did carry the crucial state of Illinois, but carried six of the final contests to Romney's three. Many figured that it would be April when a nominee would be produced. Perry used it as his final stand, where hoped to once and for all finish Romney off, while Romney was hoping to seal the deal.

Results: Kansas

Perry: 56%

Romney: 42%

Paul: 1%

Results: US Virgin Islands

Romney: 58%

Perry: 39%

Results: Alabama

Perry: 55%

Romney: 43%

Paul: 1%

Results: Hawaii

Romney: 59%

Perry: 38%

Paul: 1%

Results: Missouri (Caucus)

Perry: 50%

Romney: 48%

Paul: 1%

Results: Illinois

Romney: 52%

Perry: 46%

Paul: 1%

Results: Louisiana

Perry: 55%

Romney: 43%

Paul: 1%

Romney

Perry

Gingrich

Romney carried the first three contests in April, and proudly proclaimed, "I think we're getting a clear idea of who the nominee will be."

Results: Maryland

Romney: 55%

Perry: 43%

Paul: 1%

Results: Wisconsin

Romney: 51%

Perry: 47%

Paul: 1%

Results: District of Columbia

Romney: 59%

Perry: 38%

Paul: 1%

However, despite Romney's growing lead the question still remained: Could he rally the conservative base? The Romney campaign believed so, but grassroot activists claimed he could not. However, Romney touted the electability factor, citing he was the only candidate able to defeat Obama.

[NHI]

The April 24th primary was not the victory the Romney campaign was hoping for. Romney carried  Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York, while Rick Perry pulled an upset and carried Pennsylvania. He touted it as the start of the the comeback, while Romney signaled that the campaign would go, despite being the favorite to win the Keystone State.

Results: Delaware

Romney: 55%

Perry: 44%

Paul: 0.7%

Results: Connecticut

Romney: 55%

Perry: 44%

Paul: 0.5%

Results: Rhode Island

Romney: 55%

Perry: 44%

Paul: 0.5%

Results: New York

Romney: 52%

Perry: 47%

Paul: 0.7%

Results: Pennsylvania

Perry: 50%

Romney: 48%

Paul: 1%

The Romney campaign began focusing it's efforts on the May 8th primary: West Virginia, Indiana and North Carolina. With Perry leading in two of three the campaign doubled down, planning to sweep the three states.

Yet, Romney's strategy did not work and on May 8th Perry swept the board, evening beating Romney in the one state he was leading in, Indiana.

Results: Indiana

Perry: 52%

Romney: 47%

Paul: 1%

Results: West Virginia

Perry: 54%

Romney: 45%

Paul: 0.8%

Results: North Carolina

Perry: 58%

Romney: 40%

Paul: 0.9%

Following the defeats in the three contests many pundits cited that this was a turning point for the campaign and it was described like the downfall of Hillary Clinton in 2008. "I think Romney is finished."
Perry was on a roll and carried the May 15th primary, Nebraska and Oregon, then swept Arkansas and Kentucky.

Romney
Perry
Gingrich

On the June 5th primary; what was seen as the final stand for Romney. Perry carried Montana, South Dakota and New Mexico. Romney carried New Jersey. The most contested of the state was California and though Romney was the favorite, Perry ended up carrying the state and with that win seemed to lock up the nomination.

Results: California

Perry: 49.5%

Romney: 49.3%

"It's onto the road to the White House."

Perry v. Obama

41% - 48%

[Pingvin]

GO PERRY! (unless Paul runs as indie)

[NHI]

Projected Map: June 2012

Polling: Obama v. Perry

48% - 41%

Polling: Obama v. Perry v. Paul

49% - 34% - 18%

Polling: Obama v. Perry v. Huntsman

45% - 38% - 12%

[NHI]

As the Perry campaign began focusing on the general election, speculation began to arise thar Ron Paul might mount an independent bid. All Republicans knew that any third party candidate would hand the election to Obama.

"He needs to stop this game and stay out of the race." -- Sean Hannity.

"Ron Paul's destruction as a third party would ruin the Republican Party. Now his son has a shot at becoming president down the road and with him running for as third party candidate only ruins his chances." -- George Will.

"Certainly I have gotten a great response, but I have made no plans in terms of running as a third party candidate."

"Will you or won't you run as third party candidate?"

"I'm not thinking about it, if that's what you're implying, but certainly I like what has happened for us over the course of the campaign."

Projected Map with Paul as third party candidate.

"I will not be a candidate in the general election."

With Paul bowing out the race solidified between Perry and Obama.

[Niemeyerite]

Let's see what Huntsman decides...

[NHI]

Projected Battleground Map:
231
190

Speculation began to arise that Jon Huntsman was preparing to mount an independent bid, despite having previously stated he would not run as an independent.

"The thought is that Huntsman hurts Perry and hands Obama the election, I do not know if that is entirely true. One, he polls much worse than Ron Paul did, and two he's a pariah in the Republican Party, so I don't see many defecting from Perry to him. I think he could hurt Obama more so than Romney."

Obama v. Perry v. Huntsman

45% - 41% - 10%

Electoral Map: With Huntsman

[Simfan34]

Nice. I believe Keystone Phil is in that picture.

[NHI]

Despite some push, Jon Huntsman did not run as an independent, and said any such talk were rumors. He offered his endorsement to Perry and from there the race focused between him and Obama. As the Conventions approached speculation began to buzz about Rick Perry's pick for Vice President, the short list included:

Mitt Romney
Mitch Daniels
Kelly Ayotte
Newt Gingrich
Chris Christie
Nikki Haley
Jon Huntsman

Most pundits speculated that the pick wouldn't be Gingrich, Romney or Christie and the logical choices were: Huntsman or Ayotte. However, Rick Perry surprised everyone when announced the pick of Rudy Giuliani as his running mate.

"This country needs leadership and I am willing to proudly serve by Rick Perry who will be the next President of the United States.

The pick was seen a brilliant stroke by Perry, who needed to appeal to more moderate and independent voters and many believed Giuliani was key to making that happen.

Match ups:

Obama v. Perry

48% - 43%

Though Obama still held a five point lead over Perry in most polls, he hoped to close that gap by the convention and make serious in roads by campaigning in the battleground states of: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa and Colorado.

Obama campaigns in New Hampshire.

"Rick Perry seems like a good guy, but he sort of reminds me of that other fellow from Texas. You know the one who caused this mess. Do we want to go back to that? I don't think so America." --

The Republican Convention

The Convention easily nominated Rick Perry and Rudy Giuliani as the ticket for 2012, and for the first time in a long time the party seemed united and felt confident about victory. The week included speeches from Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio.

In his speech Rudy Giuliani praised Perry as being a true conservative, and the man to replace Obama and his policies. He also cited the need for the country to come together and that it was time to not put on "our partisan shirts, but our American shirts. The country is hurting and it is going to be our job to fix it and make her right and strong again."

On the final night of the convention Rick Perry delivered a steering attack of Obama's records without once mentioning him by name. "It's time for common sense America. Let's throw out the problem and bring in real solutions!"

Rick and Anita Perry wave to the cheering crowd following his speech.

As the convention wrapped up Perry hit the road, while the democrats prepared for their moment in the spotlight, and for the first time Perry came out on top in a poll against Obama.

Obama v. Perry

44% - 47%

[NHI]

"Tonight let us reaffirm our belief in America. Let us commit to creating a fair and just society, and let us go forward, not back."

Obama seemed to reaffirm himself as the frontrunner in the race, despite his efforts trying to champion an underdog. Yet in the poll released after the convention only put Obama one point ahead of Perry.

Obama v. Perry

46% 45%

The Debates generally were insignificant. Perry failed to make any mistakes, though Obama did jab him on the stimulus funds.

"It's great that you balanced your budget Rick, but you did with the help of the stimulus package, so don't come down on it and say that it didn't help."

"Mr. President, we balanced our budget because our pro-job environment and pro-growth and low tax burdens. Mr. President people are coming to Texas from other states because they like our message: We're job friendly."

Obama v. Perry

47% - 47%

Election Night:

"Good evening American and welcome to Fox News Election Night coverage, I'm Bret Baier. Let's not waste anytime, we have some projections to make in the Presidential race. For President Obama we project Vermont for the President. For Governor Rick Perry we project the states of Kentucky and South Carolina."

Perry: 17

Obama: 3

"We are not able to project winners in the states of Virginia, Indiana and Georgia. Though by our estimates Governor Perry is leading in Indiana and Georgia."

Indiana:
Perry 51%
Obama: 46%

Virginia:
Obama: 49%
Perry: 48%

Georgia:
Perry: 53%
Obama: 45%

"We now turn to our panel, Brit Hume and Juan Williams. It's early but how do we see this going tonight Juan?"

"Obama is holding down Virginia and Georgia and I think that's good, but it's still too early to tell."

"One moment Brit, we are now projecting Georgia for the Governor Perry at this time."