I will support the Republican nominee for President.
But until we have that nominee, I will not support Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
Had Rick Santorum been up for election in 2010 instead of suffering the largest margin of defeat of any candidate in 2006, I have no doubt he would be one of the Republicans primaried by the tea party. He routinely voted for tax increases to fund healthcare, supported expansions of the welfare state, supported the creation of new entitlements, opposed free trade, filibustered the National Right to Work Act, opposed repeal or even waiver of the Davis-Bacon Act, supported the Bridge to Nowhere even at the expense of rebuilding the Gulf Coast post Katrina, and helped pass all those travesties of the Bush Administration conservatives routinely lament including No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D as well as being perfectly fine with Harriet Miers.
Rick Santorum is a big government conservative and the only way to conclude otherwise is to be intellectually and ideologically disingenuous.
Mitt Romney too should be opposed by conservatives. He is not one. He is a political opportunist. He has held every side of every issue known to man except on the individual mandate about which his faith is unshakable.
So I am left to support Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich, either of whom I would willingly support. In the alternative, another candidate could still come forward now, though time is of the essence, and vie for a sweep of the late states to secure the nomination out right or at least force an open and brokered convention. Yes, there is still time for a Perry rebound, a Gingrich surge, and even for a new candidate to get in.
Rick Perry, who is the most successful governor in the United States, unfortunately, does not seem capable of running a Presidential campaign. Perhaps word will come tomorrow that he has restructured and reshuffled his campaign. But without a real reboot of his campaign, I cannot recommend investing in or supporting his campaign. You’ll be wasting your money. There was a report than some staff had been let go, but that was bad reportingand not the staff that really needs letting go anyway.
The most I’ve seen so far is the Washington consultants pushing out the media buying firm, in order to get a local ad buying firm in South Carolina to handle all the South Carolina ad buying work, which is a smart move, but which cannot be the only move or considered even a major move.
Curt, I went to Iowa and participated in Perry’s campaign as one of his Strikeforce volunteers. From what I witnessed from the campaign on the ground, it was run well and well organized. There was a designated speaker at every caucus. At the one I was at, no one was there for Gingrich, Paul, Huntsman or Bachmann. The phone banks were well staffed and yard signs were delivered promptly.
Now granted I am no expert in running a national campaign but I’m not sure you are expecting too much. There has to be a huge learning curve to jumping into a national campaign. Perry only got into this race in August. (6 months). Mitt Romney has been running for President for at least 6 years. This is Ron Paul’s third try. Newt’s campaign has obviously had its issues. Santorum has no national campaign past Iowa. Perry has campaign infrastructure in most every state.
Just sayin…don’t get too cynical yet.
I believe this is Erick Erickson’s article, which is why Curt has it in blockquotes.
But I could have written it. Well except for the Gingrich part. Gingrich would be my second choice, but given the way he has taken criticism from Romney, he’ll never be able to handle Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, much less Obama.
@Tercel: ‘There has to be a huge learning curve to jumping into a national campaign. Perry only got into this race in August.’
If people were arguing that Perry is personally a poor manager or w/e, this would be a valid rebuttal. For the argument that he can’t win, though… giving us reasons *why* he’s playing from behind really doesn’t matter.
Personally I think for people in Curt or Erickson’s position it’s Gingrich or bust, at this point. Perry’s polling is really bad (almost inexplicably bad to my mind, but as I’ve said before I don’t understand the mind of the average voter). Gingrich still looks strong in SC and FL and last polling for him against Romney, head to head nationally, put him ahead 60/40 or so. If he can win either of those states *and* get Santorum to drop out, then he has a chance.
As for someone else entering the race, give it up. Yes, maybe if you got someone that the media was totally in the tank for, then a big enough sweep of the later states could happen. Last time I checked they like Romney, though.
you see the difference between a ROMNEY who will bent to all needed blocks to overcome it and he has learned his lesson in the last 6 years said, but he didn’t act and lived to what he learned, which mean he has separate from actions to learned the book of what it take to win the PRESIDENCY BY LURING THE CROWD,
AS OPPOSE TO RICK PERRY, being still his OWN SELF MADE AND THINKING MAN, he is a straight shooter,
which can confound an OBAMA with the TRUTH HE HAS LIVED IN HIS STATE THESES SUCCESSFUL YEARS
EVEN WITH THE REPEATED ATTACKS FROM THE AGENCIES OF OBAMA’S PEOPLE PUTTING THE SCREW IN TO DIMINISH THE PROGRESS HE WAS AIMING TO GET, same as what they did with GOVERNER BREWER IN ARIZONA, ANOTHER FEARLESS BRILLIANT PERSON, AND he has shown to never back out of those fight and take it head on. that is what I call resolve, and result, and sure footing on a standing position which qualities are much needed and non existent, in the WHITE HOUSE, he has shown that he would listen to the people before doing something too. he has shown his passion for AMERICA, HIS LOVE FOR THE FAMILY VALUES HE HAS ARE UNSHAKEBLE,
HE IS BEHIND BECAUSE HE will make action WITH HIS STEADYNESS IN BRINGING ORDER IN GOVERNMENT, WHICH FREAKS UP MANY WHO ARE AFRAID TO GET THEIR BUTTS SHAKEN TO MOVE A FEW MORE NOTCHES, AS OPPOSE TO NOW BEING SO COMFORTABLY SITTING LAZY AND CONTEMPT TO NO WAVE TACTICS TARGETING EVERY ONE , BY HIS BECOMING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, HEY GET BRAVE AS HE IS AND YOU ALL WIN, BUT BE SCARE OF HIS AGENDA AND YOU ALL LOOSE THE ONLY CHANCE GIVEN TO YOU ALL.
he was run over by a demolishing truck and stood up
and said, I never backed out in my life
I know what the polls say but I also know right from wrong.
I’m not going to keep from backing the one person most qualified for the job because I’m afraid someone is going to think I’m stupid nor am I going to follow the crowd over the abyss.
Romney is no conservative and when Bain Capital is tied around his neck he (we all) loses.
Gingrich is sometimes very conservative and sometimes very not. He has great intelligence but shows little wisdom. He can argue both sides of every issue with equal passion. He lacks the qualities of a leader. His own house members threw him out. He is a great idea man but he does not have the skills to govern. He crusades.
Santorum is only one leg of the conservative stool. He is right on the social issues but has the wrong solutions. Government can not repair the family. That is a moral issue and it can not be solved with tax breaks (conservative engineering). And he is a flat out big spending, union supporting, big government Republican.
Paul is great on the economic issues but he is dangerous when it comes to foreign policy and libertarianism is too idealistic for a fallen world.
That leaves Rick Perry. He is ALL three legs of Ronald Reagan’s conservative stool. He has the experience (11 years of leading the world’s 13th largest economy) and record (45% of all the jobs created in the entire US in the last 2 years were created in TX) to prove that he understands the issues and has proven solutions. He is right on the 2nd and 10th Amendments. He rightly understands the threat of radical Islam and he understands the need to seal the border. He is the only one with the knowledge and the experience to get that done in 12 months. He is the only candidate that volunteered and served in uniform. His jobs record is unimpeachable and so is his character.
Now you can follow the polls and compromise your beliefs but I’m not giving up until I have to. This election has only been held in one (soon to be two) states. Neither state is representative of most of the country. Both are at least 90% white and the average is older. One of the biggest drawbacks to Perry in Iowa was that he was against corn subsidies. I know this because I was there. Perry was the only candidate that would voice his opposition to ALL subsidies publicly. Because of the new rules for delegate apportionment, this race could go on for a long time.
This may not be Perry’s time but he is the right man for the job. Time will tell but if Gingrich (as is rumored) takes after Romney with Bain Capital and this actually destroys the both of them because the establishment will destroy Gingrich in return. That leaves Paul (unelectable in the Republican Primary) Santorum and Perry. If the TEA Party still exists then Santorum will be unacceptable to them. Santorum certainly has no love lost for the TEA Party.
Rick Perry is the right man for job at this time in our history.