Texas DUers, Give Us Your Honest Assessment of Rick Perry's Chances for the Nomination and....

[Yavin4]

the presidency. As NYer, I knew that neither Guiliani nor Pataki had a chance in 2008 for either, yet the media loved both of them.

The people that know Perry best are the ones that live in his state.

So, what say you about Perry?

[Skittles]

1. in my mind if dubya could be "president" ANYONE CAN

[66 dmhlt]

21. Perry ... the go-to candidate for Repubicans who found Dubya a tad too cerebral

[TexasProgresive]

2. Our prognosticating record is poor

We never thought B*shbaby would be governor much less president.

[Ishoutandscream2]

3. He does frighten me

I said in the past he was prepping for the Teabaggers and the religious fanatics with his statements about the Texas "miracle" (don't believe it, cuts abound for those of us at the middle and the bottom). The man is stupid, but he is a helluva campaigner. Obama is going to have to hit him and hit him hard if Perry is nominated. Goodhair will pull out all the stops.

[Texasgal]

4. From what I gather

even the republicans do not care for him.

Everyone is pissed off about the mansion that he lives in that the taxpayers pay for, The governors place was undergoing repairs and then it was set on fire. The rent at his opulent place is ridiculous. Almost TEN GRAND a month! NOBODY digs that!

Then there is the issue of immigration. Repukes think he isn't doing enough to keep the rising tide of Mexicans from crossing the border.

Of course, right after Katrina when Rita hit and all of Houston were trying to evacuate.... turned into a monumental failure. RE: A bus of senior citizens dying on a bus that had caught fire on the freeway packed with thousands of people!

Another, the deal with the HPV shots. He was getting ready to FORCE every young sexually active girl to receive this injection while he was buddy, buddy with the manufacturer. Merck? I think. Repukes went nuts over that. So did I.

There are a lot of other things, but by large I honestly think that the repukes in this state do not care for him ( including My repuke Dad! ) Obviously we Texan Dem's cannot stand the asshole!

[Ishoutandscream2]

5. Yet, he "won" re-election

I only know of one person who admits to voting for him in the last election. And I'm in a very Red Hell county. I really thought we had a chance with White. It all just doesn't add up...

[Texasgal]

8. Honestly I don't think they were voting for "him"

They were voting repuke.

Kinda like the anti-Obama people here. Same thing.

[tammywammy]

10. I think that's exactly it

I don't know anyone that really likes Perry.

I think voters outside of Texas won't be so willing to overlook his BS. Hello? Trans Texas Corridor, HPV, business franchise tax, high property taxes, high energy prices, etc. He even implemented in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, how's that going to go over with his Tea Party friends?

I think he can win the nomination. I don't think he's someone you should underestimate (unfortunately).

[Texasgal]

11. I really think it's gonna be a

"hold your nose" and vote campaign if he gets the nom.

[tammywammy]

13. No holding the nose here

I don't want that asshole anywhere close to the White House. I'll be more than happy to vote for Obama. I hate Perry as governor, the idea of him as president makes me vomit a little in my mouth.

[Texasgal]

14. Oh no..no..

I meant the repukes will be holding their noses.. Sorry I wasn't more clear! :) I'd never EVER vote for that asshole!

[tammywammy]

15. I don't think he can win the independents

I think all this shit that the Texas voters seem to let slide (not me, I don't vote for him), will definitely not woo the independents. Especially all that churchy whatever it was last weekend.

I didn't figure you'd vote for him, I thought you meant holding your nose to vote Obama. No matter how upset some people are with Obama, it's nothing like if Perry gets into the White House.

[Texasgal]

17. Agreed.. which is why

I think that Texans by large will be very careful considering pointyboots.

I can hope anyway... :)

[onestepforward]

24. Exactly.

They would have voted for a potted plant if it had a "R" behind it. No kidding.

[Ter]

29. He barely won his own primary

He would have lost if Debora Medina hadn't come out as a Truther.

[Yavin4]

7. That's Funny. Guiliani was Equally Hated in NYC even by the Cops and Firefighters

Yet, the media presented him as some kind of hero because of 9/11. His support was extremely shallow, and it showed in the primaries. The difference is that Guiliani was a terrible campaigner. I don't think that Perry will be as bad as he was.

[Texasgal]

9. Unfortunately we had a weak Dem Candiate.

I went to Center, Texas for a wedding and no one knew who Bill White was... right in the middle of the governors campaign!

It was SCARY! It was at that point, I knew we had lost to pointyboots!

[GreenStormCloud]

6. Perry's chances for the nomination are excellent.

Unless he makes some major gaffe I expect him to get it. He will have the backing of the religious right and of the pro-gun groups. Romney is weak in that area.
Perry is an accomplished campaigner who has never lost an election. He is very good at the 15-second sound bite. I expect him to ignore the rest of the Republican candidates and act as if he were already nominated and to attack Obama relentlessly. By not attacking other candidates he won't have to mend fences after he gets the nod.

His chances against Obama depend upon what the economy does in the next year. If it picks up and unemployments drops signifigantly, then Obama has no worries. But if unemployment continues to hover around 9%, then Obama is toast. Obama's most recent approval rating is down to 39%. Even New York state has his disapproval rating at 51%.

He is a hard-core conservative on all issues. Many here are considering him too conservative to be electable. That was the same thing that was said of Reagan in 1979. The talking heads and columnists were all saying, "Too conservative to be nominated, and if nominated too conservative to win." And we all know what happened in 1980 & 1984.

[mtnsnake]

12. Great post, very informative. Thank you!

[snagglepuss]

19. Very informative. Thanks. nt

[griffi94]

20. you could easily be correct

except i see goodhair as more of a political opportunist than a conservative.
i think he's conservative for now as he needs the tea party nuts to fuel his campaign..if he gets the nomination i see him ditching them for whoever pays better.

also some of his past 15 second sound bytes will probly hurt him...like the secession thing.

still it would be foolish to underestimate him.
i also think in the last 2 governors races he's benefited from multiple 3rd party candidates, like kinky and one tough grandma.

jmho

[Ter]

30. "He is a hard-core conservative on all issues"

No he isn't.

[mourningdove92]

16. I remember when I first heard that Dubya was running

for president. I laughed my ass off. Couldn't imagine what would make him think he could get any where near the White House. Well, I really missed the boat that time. The whole Perry thing is really scary. He is MUCH worse than Bush.

Damn, did I really say someone was worse than Bush? How scary is that?

[KOfan]

28. This is Bush 2

Only thing missing is Poppy pulling the strings. Perry is weak from what I hear..he does'nt have the toe to toe ability against President Obama.

[themaguffin]

18. his to lose. big money has been holding out. if they didn't already back Romney, then

obviously they are holding out for something. Bush has the money backing from day one.

the money will also make sure that Bachmann is crushed too. they want him. he gets the Christians who don't believe in Christ vote, the white victim vote and the greed is good vote.

[Douglas Carpenter]

22. today the grass roots social conservative activist have more say in the Republican Party than ever

They are absolutely convinced that McCain lost because McCain was too liberal. They for the most part consider Mitt Romney too liberal - too much like a respectable country club Republican. Apocalyptic right-wing fundamentalist are the largest single faction of the grass root activist and they simply cannot accept a Mormon since they consider Mormonism a false and demonic religion. Believing as they do that we are in the end of times when God is preparing to establish his kingdom on earth, they are going to push very hard to see a man of God become the Republican nominee and lead the nation. I thought Tim Pawlenty might fill the bill given that he is an Evangelical who has aggressively courted the right-wing fundamentalist constituency. But Gov. Pawlenty is simply not apocalyptic enough. Now he is out of the race.

So the right-wing fundamentalist and other social conservative are going to insist that this time they run the real thing. Sarah Palin is not really a serious contender. Michelle Bachmann doesn't really have the gravitas to win the GOP nomination even though she is wildly popular.

So the right-wing grass root activist are going to really push the system to insure that someone who really speaks for them becomes the nominee. Mitt Romney is less than acceptable to them. I only see one credible challenger to Mitt Romney that would hold the hearts and minds of the grass root activist and that would be Rick Perry.

Could he win? Normally speaking, no. He is simply too wacko for a lot of ordinary Republicans and independents. But if the economy is doing poorly and there is a sense of malaise in the air then the unthinkable could happen.

(sorry, I somehow missed the part where you specifically asked for the opinion of Texans. Since I'm not a Texan - I suppose I shouldn't have responded to this question)

[hamsterjill]

23. Perry WILL be the Republican candidate

Romney will not. It will be Perry - for all of the obvious reasons. Perry has baggage, but Romney is "that Mormon" to most of the religious right.

Perry scares the hell out of me. He will not fight fair. He will make Dick Cheney and George Bush look like playground bullies. Perry will use anything and everything at his disposal. He hungers for the white house. And Obama must stand toe-to-toe with him or Perry will be the next President. There can be no niceties. Perry will want to look tough and shrewd and powerful. He will have no interest in looking like a statesman. He'll attack Obama as being weak.

Perry will have massive amounts of money from all of the rich crazy people.

Perry is a mean bastard, and the only way to deal with a mean bastard is to be a meaner one, and by being smarter.

I will be working hard to see that Obama is elected for a second term.

[Dan]

26. if what you say is true, then I think Obama will lose

... I don't believe that Obama has the character/history to be a fighter... my opinion.

[hamsterjill]

35. Unfortunately, I tend to agree.

And I sincerely hope that I'm wrong! I'm going to do my best to get Obama re-elected.

[ClarkUSA]

25. Nate Silver offhandedly indicated in his blog today that he believed Perry will be the GOP nominee.

Considering Perry is a charismatic white Anglo Southern good ol' boy teabagger evangelical Christian who's marginally less insane and stupid than Michele Backmann, I'm inclined to agree with him.

[sonias]

27. Meet Rick Perry

Too much to say. Short answer is he's an insufferable prick.
www.meetrickperry.com

Website above paid for by the Texas Democratic Party. Yes we do have one! :)

[blkmusclmachine]

31. Perry is terrible, terrible, like "W," but on steroids:

This man keeps getting "re-elected," although few actually like him. Makes me wonder what's going on with the vote "counting" machines that we can't see.

[TomCADem]

32. Unlike Romney, Perry Can Really Motivate The Christian Right...

...The Evangelicals are generally lukewarm about Romney, since he is a Mormon, so I think that Perry is potentially tougher to beat.

[vercetti2021]

33. Well

No, good chance he could win the nomination but not the presidency. But if dubya could win...Nevermind. No he can't, he would have to pull a Florida and Ohio to win.

[ananda]

34. Let's put it this way.

He will get megabucks through all those superpacs, and nonstop credible
media coverage . . . . mix that with machine and election fraud, and you
have a recipe for our next governing disaster.