Rick Perry or Fred Thompson

[they don't love you like i love you]

?

[Stranger in a strange land]

Perry: Thompson was over-hyped and just didn't try. Perry actually tried and failed epically. Perry also produced far more embarrassing (and entertaining) gaffes.

[sentinel]

I didn't read the question, I voted for Thompson cause I like him better

[Averroës Nix]

So far? Perry, clearly, even with the benefit of being in a field that includes Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman, and Michele Bachmann.

But I wouldn't count him out in Iowa; if he finishes, say, third or better, he'll remain more relevant than Thompson was at any point after the voting began. And despite the Rise of Newt Volume II, I still see him as being the only candidate who poses a real threat to Romney bagging the nomination.

[Dereich]

I didn't read the question, I voted for Thompson cause I like him better

Actually, I just did the same thing, then read the question. Perry of course ran a worse campaign.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Well, everyone is hoping that they'll be the next Kerry/McCain comeback kid. Kerry's is particularly epic. He was polling in 5th place with single digits and trading at about 2% 4 years ago, By March 2004, none of those top 4 were in the top 2 any more.

[Politico]

Kerry 2004 is the most impressive comeback I have ever seen in my time following politics. He was literally dead in the water this time eight years ago. I am still not sure how he pulled it off. A lot of it was just Dean/Gephardt turning Iowa voters off with their mudslinging. The shock of him winning Iowa just provided such a boost of momentum that nobody could catch up. Dean's "I Have a Scream" obviously added to Kerry's momentum boost. Probably would have been a closer race without that fiasco. In any case, it is almost impossible to envision Perry pulling off a Kerry...

[Pingvin]

I didn't read the question, I voted for Thompson cause I like him better

[Paul Kemp]

Kerry 2004 is the most impressive comeback I have ever seen in my time following politics. He was literally dead in the water this time eight years ago. I am still not sure how he pulled it off.

Almost the same exact thing happened with McCain in 2008.

[Joe Republic]

Kerry 2004 is the most impressive comeback I have ever seen in my time following politics. He was literally dead in the water this time eight years ago.

Whoa, really?  Do you have a link to that news article?  I could have sworn I saw him alive and walking around since then, but maybe I've been mistaken.

[Politico]

Kerry 2004 is the most impressive comeback I have ever seen in my time following politics. He was literally dead in the water this time eight years ago. I am still not sure how he pulled it off.

Almost the same exact thing happened with McCain in 2008.

Yeah, but McCain was always in the mix in New Hampshire. At this stage in 2003, Kerry was pretty much in single digits everywhere. Maybe not quite December 8, 2003, the capture of Hussein around that time period may have given him a little jolt, but certainly the month beforehand.

[Averroës Nix]

I could have sworn I saw him alive and walking around since then, but maybe I've been mistaken.

There's a reason why Kerry's general election campaign went so poorly.

[Politico]

Kerry 2004 is the most impressive comeback I have ever seen in my time following politics. He was literally dead in the water this time eight years ago.

Whoa, really?  Do you have a link to that news article?  I could have sworn I saw him alive and walking around since then, but maybe I've been mistaken.

[sentinel]

Kerry 2004 is the most impressive comeback I have ever seen in my time following politics. He was literally dead in the water this time eight years ago.

Whoa, really?  Do you have a link to that news article?  I could have sworn I saw him alive and walking around since then, but maybe I've been mistaken.

Those pale chicken legs lost him the election.

[Link]

Dean's "I Have a Scream" obviously added to Kerry's momentum boost.

I still don't get what the big deal was about the Dean Scream, especially in light of the stuff we've had to endure in this Republican primary.  People talk about it a lot and I've seen it on TV, but I just don't get it.  It really makes me wonder how out of touch I am.

[King]

Thompson could probably jump in now and win the nomination.

[Pingvin]

Thompson could probably jump in now and win the nomination.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Perry by far, though, I don't think he's a done duck just yet.  We'll have to wait until at least post-New Hampshire, or even post-South Carolina to get a real taste of where this feller's at.  I cite previous posters' examples of Kerry in late 2003/early 2004. Plus, Mittens has been slipping just a bit in the polls himself enough to make the Fig Newton clear frontrunner status.  If there's anything we've learned by watching the past two election cycles (2004 and 2008) is that this is still anybody's game.

[Peeperkorn]

At least Thompson was an intelligent being and a great (?) actor.

[Torie]

Perry wins this little contest going away.  I mean, I knew before he got started, that he was flawed, but I had no idea just how flawed. His disingenuous use of religion for attempted political gain is offensive to boot, so he's sinking into the offensively dumb category. How did he ever get elected governor I wonder, and then hold the office?  

[Joe Biden 2020]

Perry wins this little contest going away.  I mean, I knew before he got started, that he was flawed, but I had no idea just how flawed. His disingenuous use of religion for attempted political gain is offensive to boot, so he's sinking into the offensively dumb category. How did he ever get elected governor I wonder, and then hold the office? 

He's from Texas. Need I say more?

[The Mikado]

People seriously overestimate the effect of the Dean Speech, partially because they misremember the chronology.  Dean gave that speech in response to collapsing from a decisive first in Iowa in the polls to a humiliating 3rd, losing to Kerry by 20 points.  Whatever was wrong with Dean's campaign, the Scream only reinforced the structural problems that were there to begin with.  (Hint: those problems have to do with Joe Trippi walking away with all the money and with an army of orange-hatted starry-eyed Dean kids offending the good folks of Iowa).