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What’s Rick Gotta Do?
A few moments ago, Rick Perry finished giving perhaps the best announcement speech of any Republican candidate who’s jumped into the presidential field. Were this his first time angling for the Oval Office, he’d be sending shock waves through the field. But “were this his first time” is probably a phrase we’re going to have to get used to where Perry is concerned.
Now, the former Texas governor still has a pretty decent fan base at Ricochet. When we asked our members to choose between potential presidential candidates in May, Perry came in third (with 9%), although nowhere close to the top two, Scott Walker (39%) and Marco Rubio (21%). He also finished a respectable fourth when members were asked about their second-choice candidate. That’s far better than he’s faring in national polls, where the RealClearPolitics average has him tenth, behind — God help us — Donald Trump. Those numbers will almost certainly change now that he’s taking on a higher profile, but he’s still got a ways to go before he cracks the top tier (assuming that the concept of “top tier” even applies in a field that is itself larger than the Iowa or New Hampshire electorates).
My sense for a while now has been that there aren’t a whole lot of conservatives, especially here at Ricochet, who are dead set against Perry as a presidential candidate. In fact, many seem like they would really like to support him. But, let’s face it: once bitten, twice shy. He had all the same things going for him last time — executive experience, a military background, the Texas track record, the look of a lost member of the Brolin family — and he still managed to roll the car into the ditch.
So, here’s the question for those of you who have misgivings based on the 2012 experience (although I’d love to hear from any of you): What would Rick Perry have to do to convince you to support him again in 2016?
Published in Politics
Demonstrate broad appeal by doing well in Iowa and New Hampshire. Be effective, clear and persuasive in the debates. Present the argument that Texas economic successes are due to state policies. Fracking is lagniappe!
Don’t go Full Texan.
Sadly, what Perry would have to do would not be a former governor of Texas. It might not be fair, just as it might not be fair that Jeb can’t win with his last name, but life isn’t fair.
(Joseph Stanko said this better above.)
This one?
http://www.c-span.org/video/?302089-1/rick-perry-energy-policy-plan
Any reluctance is almost gone. I’m pretty sure he can hold the stage even with this election’s abundance of political talent, but I’d like to see it done. And, contrariwise, should he approve any campaign ad with Sam Elliot doing voice-over, he is most certainly dead to me.
I have already decided to give Rick Perry a second chance. He will have to perform against the rest of the candidates, but he has several strengths: he is one of the best retail politicians in the field; he is charming and likable; he served in the military; he spent the last 3 years studying and preparing on policy positions, and has hired Avik Roy as his chief policy person; he established a very strong record in Texas; he is a charter member of the Tea Party, and very well-liked by the Republican base. One question I have is whether he will be as successful in raising money as he was in 2012.
Ben Domenech has an informative discussion of Rick Perry and his chances on today’s Coffee and Markets podcast available on iTunes.
http://coffeeandmarkets.com/2015/06/04/rick-perry-enters-a-crowded-gop-field/
Thanks for supplying the link captainpower.
For what it is worth, Rick Wilson made the following observations about Perry on Twitter
Tweets were edited so as to “story-ify” them. Converted to html numbered list
Commentary: Rick Wilson is a GOP political consultant. I recall that on a pre-2014 election podcast Rick correctly called a number of elections that I did not expect the GOP to win. At the time I suspected that Rick was just doing the cheerleader thing. Afterward I realized that Rick was either damn lucky or damn good. My current thinking favors the later.
Of course, past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. But Rick’s career as a consultant is based on his reputation for good judgement. It would do his reputation no good to publicly make predictions he knew were likely to be false.
In that podcast Rick made the following point: “Candidate quality comes first.” Which I understand to mean that politicians who are good at their jobs–which includes governing well, doing the work necessary to raise money from donors, campaigning hard, being prepared, not getting involved in stupid conversations, and so on–have a better chance of winning.
I discern from those tweets that Rick scores Perry as a quality candidate. My guess is that Rick would also score Rubio, Walker and Jeb as quality candidates.
He needs to get into the debates, and do well.
1. Attack Jeb Bush every day the way Carly is dogging Hillary. Whoever takes Jeb down will get media attention and earn a spot in the debates.
2. Have really good debates.
I wish he’d ditch the heavy black frames in favor of bronze metal rims—still manly, but more open. His face is too hidden by those big glasses. Switch the suit to a lighter color—he is from Texas, and black in the sun? Other than that, wouldn’t change a thing! (Southern belle swoon, fans face with hand…)