Back in 2012, we ran a series of posts about Republicans candidates who were running for the GOP presidential nomination that had no shot at ever being elected president. You can read some of the posts here. I am embarrassed to note that we did not do a post regarding former Texas Governor Rick Perry.
The New York Times reports that Mr. Perry has announced he is once again running for president. Why would a guy who finished fifth in the Iowa Caucuses think he can win the GOP nomination (and general election) this time? Well, one of his aids says that Mr. Perry has "focused like a laser beam on the task of running for president in 2016 almost since he dropped out of the race." This laser-like focus has included "donning hipster-style black-rimmed eyeglasses and trading his cowboy boots for black loafers."
I am not entirely sure why putting on glasses makes on seem more presidential. A quick review of presidential portraits shows that our only glasses-wearing presidents were Woodrow Wilson and Harry S. Truman. Maybe Mr. Perry thinks that glasses will appeal to democratic voters of a certain age.
In any event, I do not believe that Mr. Perry will be able to convince voters to view him differently than they did in 2012. As a result I am calling it now. Rick Perry will not be elected President of the United States of America.
Probably a good call. But we can be forgiven, I think, for not making the call so early last time around. In the abstract, a Republican governor of Texas would seem a formidable threat to win the Republican nomination, and Perry at least looks the part. As I recall, his campaign ran aground last time after some bizarre public appearances which he has blamed on being high on painkillers. ;)[The Blog's general counsel advised me to google this recollection before posting, and it is essentially correct. but I added a winking emoticon just in case.]
ReplyDeletehttp://dailycaller.com/2012/04/02/report-rick-perry-used-painkillers-to-help-him-get-through-debates/
Assuming he's back on the wagon, maybe he'll be more coherent this time around.