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Can Rick Perry Still Win?

Tuesday night, Governor Rick Perry announced, after a disappointing showing in the Iowa caucuses, that he was returning to Texas to reevaluate his campaign. Wednesday morning, he tweeted that he was on his way to South Carolina.

The question of the moment for Perry supporters is this: Can Perry still win?

If the behavior of the Romney and Gingrich campaigns is any indication, he certainly can.

Pro-Romney PACs ran a littany of attack ads against Gingrich in Iowa, and it’s likely these ads are partially responsible for Newt’s poor performance there. Gingrich will likely retaliate in kind in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

This gives us the prospect of a mutually-assured-destruction scenario: Romney’s been successful at assailing Gingrich, and Gingrich’s ego demands he respond with an even harsher assault. Gingrich’s legendary ability to draw proverbial blood with his comments will force Romney to escalate in turn (remember, this is the same Romney who tried to physically intimidate Rick Perry [PIC], and often tells other candidates “It’s my turn now” in debates). I predict this escalation will go back-and-forth between Mitt and Newt for quite some time.

Attack ads from both camps could have two effects: 1) Souring primary voters with the negativity of both campaigns; 2) Souring voters on both of their records.

This leaves the door open for a candidate who can distance himself from the schoolyard fighting and, by comparison, ‘look Presidential’. Who could be that candidate?

I think it’s safe to say Jon Huntsman won’t be the nominee at this point. Michele Bachmann has dropped out. Rick Santorum, despite his win in Iowa, doesn’t appear to have the organization or fundraising to last beyond Iowa. And once the closed-primary states start voting, Ron Paul is finished.

By default, it would be Rick Perry.

In order to succeed, Perry needs to rework his campaign. As Erick Erickson pointed out in this post at RedState, Rick’s reboot must include removing the under-performing people in his staff who are handicapping him.

This also means Perry’s people need to be better at disseminating information to pro-Perry bloggers, who make up the backbone of his messaging. This ties in to fundraising, too: the more the Perry message is spread, the more money comes into the campaign. It’s a simple numbers game.

If Rick Perry is the candidate we believe him to be, we’ll soon see a big turnaround in his campaign.

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6 Comments

  1. Yes. He. Can.

    I live well under the leadership of Rick Perry and those he surrounds himself with to get things done here in Texas. I want that for all Americans!

  2. In my humble opinion, GOV. RICK PERRY is most qualified to
    be the next POTUS, Commander-in-Chief, and leader of the FREE WORLD.

    No other individual running for POTUS is better prepared, tested, and PROVEN to be the REAL leader that America needs in this juncture of our history. We are talking about electing a man that will lead and govern a nation with the 3rd largest population in the world…over 300,000,000 Americans. Furthermore, we are talking about electing the leader, of the WORLD’S LARGEST ECONOMY, and the world’s ONLY SUPERPOWER.

    For the last 11-years, GOV. RICK PERRY has successfully governed the state with the 2nd largest population in our country…a state with 25,000,000 people. In addition, Texas is the world’s 16th largest economy…bigger than a majority of the countries worldwide (including Israel). Texas has a 1200 mile border with a foreign country, it has coastlines and seaports, produces oil in vast quantities, it has more clean energy windmills than any other state in the country, it has 20,000 National Guard/Reserves troops…including numerous major military installations, and Space Center to boot.

    GOVERNOR RICK PERRY has served his country as a military officer and pilot in the USAF. Very importantly, there will be NO DOWN TIME in our country for any ON-THE-JOB TRAINING with GOV. RICK PERRY.

    RICK PERRY’S moral character, belief in God, and CAN DO attitude…will guide him well…as our future POTUS.

  3. I am appalled at the complete SELLOUT, by those in the conservative MSM (FOX) who are pushing moderate RINO ROMNEY, as the GOP nominee for POTUS.

    I believe, along with many others, that Rupert Murdoch is backing ROMNEY, and he has made it clear at FOX…that in particular, GOV. RICK PERRY is to be censored, and his name not mentioned. This is obvious to me and numerous others, because of the Karl Rove/Bush connections, and the long animosities between both camps. Our supposedly “unbiased fair and balanced” media outlets…are now strictly controlled by individuals with special agendas…the people be damned.

    TEA Party MOVEMENT has died I’m afraid…2010 gains will be lost because of MURDOCH/ROVE/FOX NEWS.

  4. MURDOCH say’s he is endorsing SANTORUM…what he is actually doing, is making sure the CONSERVATIVE VOTE STAY’S SPLIT…long enough for RINO ROMNEY to string some victories together, while knocking out other candidates. MURDOCH can then offer SANTORUM a lucrative contract as an analist for FOX.

    The lame liberal MSM is being played by MURDOCH, FOX News, and Karl Rove w/his Bush surrogates. The TEA Party Conservatives are being blatantly stuck-in-the-back, lied too, and double-crossed.

    1. They want to force Perry out before the Texas Primary in April. Texas has 155 delegates and Perry would sweep the state with the lions share…He would do well in CA as well which has 172.

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