Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty and a host of others seeking the Republican nomination for president, will all be participating in the Iowa Straw Poll this Saturday to gauge their chances to reach the White House. But while the GOP hopefuls are duking it out in Iowa, they’ll be upstaged in South Carolina and New Hampshire by someone who may soon become their worst nightmare — Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.
Gov. Perry is not yet an official candidate for president, but most believe that is a mere formality as he is expected to make his intentions known soon. With a sea of candidates that many Republicans admit they’re far from excited over and fear are ill equipped to beat President Obama in 2012, Gov. Perry is already being called the GOP savior.
“There is still a thirst for another voice to come in,” said Iowa Republican Craig Schoenfeld, who is heading up the group “Americans for Perry” by seeking supporters to back the Texas governor. “They are looking for the kind of leadership he has shown in Texas, while the country has gone the other direction.”
Gov. Perry is not expected to make a formal announcement this weekend, but he has already started recruiting campaign workers in critical states, securing fund-raising commitments and preparing for 3 Republican debates scheduled for early next month. Or in other words, Perry is already well beyond the trial-balloon stage of initiating a campaign as his candidacy is pretty much a done deal.
At a time when GOP candidates had hoped to introduce themselves to voters and distance themselves from the competition, it appears the spotlight will not be on the announced candidates in Iowa this weekend, but rather on the seemingly new kid on the block: Rick Perry. According to Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, the GOP race will likely thin out after Saturday, when it becomes clearer which candidates are far from a chance at the nomination. But with Rick Perry now lurking in the shadows, the drop outs could come in rapid succession and this could soon turn into a 3-horse race: Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry.
Stay tuned!
<span>In politics, Perception IS Reality. And that so-called "Reality" is shaped by Narrative. Narrative…as one writer put it…"is the secret weapon of politics—powerful, unaccountable, and invisible: it provides the standard by which stories are written and facts judged." The truth is the Iowa Straw Poll (ISP) has disproportionate influence in our presidential politics, despite the FACT that the "Winner" of that poll RARELY goes on to win the nomination, to saynothing of the Presidency. People actively involved in politics (politicians, political junkies, pundit-idiots and the like) AND the media know this. And yet, every 3 yrs the ISP narrative is trotted out and presented as something voters should take seriously. And it works!?! The ISP event is an expensive political-media-driven charade. Period. Even Rick Perry (the man described as G. Dubya Bush on steroids) gets it. The man plans to make his stand (if you will) in South Carolina for crying out loud..lol So it appears it's going to come down to Perry and Romney duking it out for the Repub nomination. Now if the Repubs were smart they'd nominate Romney. I think he's the ONLY candidate with a real chance at beating Pres. Obama. The talibangelicals detest Mitt. But if he wins the nomination they will hold their nose and vote for him. If I were Pres. "O," I'd get busy pushing MY OWN narrative by PUBLICLY tackling the profound economic challenges We face, HEAD. ON., with practical solutions. I'd also pray that Perry wins the nomination 🙂 ! </span>
<span><span><span><span><span>In politics, Perception IS Reality. And so-called "Reality" is shaped by the Narrative.</span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></span> <span><span><span><span><span>Narrative, as one write put it, </span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span>"is the secret weapon of politics—powerful, unaccountable, and invisible: it provides the standard by which stories are written and facts judged." </span></span> </span></span></span><span><span><span></span></span></span> <span><span><span>The truth is the Iowa Straw Poll (ISP) has "disproportionate influence in our presidentail politics" despite the fact that the "Winner" of that poll RARELY goes on to "Win" the nomination. People actively involved in politics (politicians, political-junkies, pundit-idiots AND THE MEDIA) know this. And yet every 3yrs the ISP narrative is trotted out and presented as something voters should take seriously. And it works!?! </span></span></span><span><span><span></span></span></span><span><span><span> </span></span></span>The ISP is an expensive political-media driven charade. Period. Even Rick Perry gets! The man described by some as "G. Dubya Bush on steroids" has opted to skip Iowa and make his stand in South Carolina for crying out loud..lol. So now it looks like it's going to come down to Perry and Romney duking it out for the nomination. If the Repubs were smart they'd nominate Romney. I think he the ONLY candidate with the real chance of beating the President. The talibangelicals detest Mitt. But rest assured. If he wins the nomination, most of them will hold their nose next Nov. and vote for him.If I were Pres. "O" I'd get busy pushing MY OWN narrative by PUBLICLY tackling the profound Economic challenges We face HEAD. ON. with practical solutions.Oh and I'd also pray that Perry wins the GOP nomination 🙂 !
Well scoot over Rick! Even Sarah Palin knows you don't have to "officially" be on the ISP ballot to be viewed as a "serious" Presidential candidate among GOP voters. H*ll. In her case, all you have to do is ride in at the 11th hour on a bus..smh. Amazing..lol.CNN: "Palin bus tour to roll into Iowa" After a more than two-month hiatus, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is planning to crash the presidential party once again with a heartland-themed re-launch of her "One Nation" bus tour this week in Iowa, according to a Palin fundraising email obtained by CNN.Palin is bringing her Constitution-draped bus to the Iowa State Fair, just 30 miles south of where the Republican presidential field will take the stage on Thursday for a presidential debate in Ames.<span></span>It's not yet clear which day the tour begins, but her surprise arrival in Iowa will happen before the closely watched Ames straw poll. Palin is not on the straw poll ballot. […]Full read: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/10/p…