Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have given Mitt Romney an extraordinary gift. Their anti-free-market rants against Mr. Romney and his former firm Bain Capital have made the ex Massachusetts governor a cause célèbre among conservative talk show hosts like Sean Hannity. These were the exact hosts who have been wary of Mr. Romney’s conservative bona fides for […]
Read the rest of this entry »Can Perry Claw Back?
Rick Perry’s decision to stay in the GOP presidential primary until at least South Carolina is a good one. Mr. Perry, who entered the race from a cannon before falling to earth like, well, a cannonball at the end of its arc, was just beginning to get the feel of things at the close of […]
Read the rest of this entry »The New “It”
Rick Santorum crept up in the Iowa polls in recent weeks as the last standing social conservative who could challenge Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. As Newt Gingrich’s and Michele Bachmann’s supporters looked for a relevant place to cast their vote, Mr. Santorum, who campaigned endlessly in Iowa, became the latest, and maybe last, “it” […]
Read the rest of this entry »Rick Perry’s Low Blow
http://youtu.be/0PAJNntoRgA Just saw Rick Perry’s new ad “Strong” that I have heard so much about and which has caused so much controversy, which his ad makers clearly intended. I am way behind in commenting on it; a single You Tube posting of the spot has had more than six million views in a week. The spot […]
Read the rest of this entry »That’s Nothing, Mr. Perry
I can totally see this happening.
Read the rest of this entry »Perry Comms Team Outstanding
http://youtu.be/B0rmHzBYHyc Say what you will about Rick Perry’s debate performance Wednesday night; the clean-up job by his media team has been remarkably good. Within hours they were raising money off the gaffe and using the opportunity to book top-flight interviews like the one above with David Letterman. Perry let lots of personality through in those […]
Read the rest of this entry »Cain Campaign Needs to Regroup or Retire
Herman Cain’s campaign manager, Mark Block, of cigarette ad fame, just backed off his very public charge that Texas Governor Rick Perry’s campaign was responsible for this week’s stories about sexual harassment charges levied against Mr. Cain in the 1990’s. Yesterday, Messrs. Block and Cain slammed Perry in separate television appearances, with Block calling for a national apology from Mr. […]
Read the rest of this entry »Perry Lays ’em on the Table
Don’t count out Rick Perry just yet. The Lone Star State governor laid his tax reform cards on the table today, and it’s a humdinger: A simple-to-understand 20% flat tax that Perry and his economic advisors say will spur massive job growth in the country. I have had the pleasure of working with one of those […]
Read the rest of this entry »Reality Check with Intrade
I like to check in from time to time with Dublin’s Intrade prediction market to see what bettors are thinking about U.S. elections. Intrade (presumably) is a for-profit version of the Iowa Futures Market created some years ago by the University of Iowa to test the accuracy of political predictions when money is at stake. Those predictions have proved to be […]
Read the rest of this entry »The-Anyone-but-Barack Vote
Ron Paul is in a statistical tie with President Obama if the election were held today, with President Obama pulling 47% of the vote and Congressman Paul taking 45%. In fact, Paul would probably beat the President today, as the undecideds almost all break to the challenger in a presidential contest. Michele Bachmann is four points behind the President […]
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