Perry announces presidential aims as Iowa holds poll

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14515375

Perry announces presidential aims as Iowa holds poll

Texas Governor Rick Perry has announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2012 presidential race.

His announcement at a South Carolina event comes as fellow candidates face their first key test of grassroots party opinion in an Iowa straw poll.

The poll is not an official primary but winning is considered a major boost.

The front-runner in national opinion polls, ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, is not actively taking part.

Mr Romney is expected to face a strong challenge from the conservative Mr Perry, who succeeded George W Bush as Texas governor.

The strong-jawed Mr Perry told voters in a conference call from Columbia, South Carolina, that he wanted to take on President Barack Obama next year.

"I full-well believe I'm going to win," he said.

'False statements'

The first official Iowa primaries in the race for the White House are still several months away but the non-binding results of Saturday's straw poll in Ames, Iowa may play an important role in shaping which Republican will take on Barack Obama.

The poll is essentially a state Republican fund-raiser and turnout in the past has ranged from 14,000 to 23,000.

With Mr Romney absent from the straw poll ballot, analysts say the key battle may be between Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann, who are vying for the social conservative vote.

They clashed in Iowa on Thursday night in the third televised debate of the 2012 Republican race.

Mr Pawlenty repeatedly criticised Ms Bachmann's lack of substantive success in enacting a legislative agenda, and accused her of "making false statements".

Ms Bachmann hit back, accusing Mr Pawlenty of pursuing policies that sound "a lot more like Barack Obama".

Mr Pawlenty has been struggling in national opinion polls and may need a strong showing in Iowa.

The other four candidates who have paid to take part in the straw poll are representatives Thaddeus McCotter and Ron Paul, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and businessman Herman Cain.

Mr Romney, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich have not paid to take part but are still on the ballot list.

The straw poll often sifts out failing candidates but is no guarantee of success. Mr Romney won in 2007 but Mike Huckabee came second and later won the Iowa caucus. John McCain did not take part and won the nomination.

This year's straw poll is almost as noticeable for its absentees - Mr Perry and Sarah Palin, who has yet to decide on her candidacy.

Mrs Palin, who visited the Iowa state fair on Friday, was lukewarm about the importance of the straw poll.

"It's not always the tell-tale sign of what the electorate is feeling. It's who happens to show up and has the time and energy to spend that day for their particular candidate," she said.

Rick Perry will be the 45th President of the United States.

The Tea Party will cease to be a protest movement, and will become the establishment.

Their policies will be implemented in full, and will be evaluated by history.

Whether the Perry administration restores the economy or delivers it the death blow, the days of the Tea Party's "grass-roots protest movement" phase, with the picket signs and marches and the "outsider" image, will soon draw to a close. They will be the new status quo.

kronos wrote:Rick Perry will be the 45th President of the United States.

My money is on Perry. He has the background to implement actual changes.

kronos wrote:The Tea Party will cease to be a protest movement, and will become the establishment.

I don't think so. They'll become irrelevant when Bama is gone.... unless the next GOP president turns into some big gov't sloth like Bush did.

kronos wrote:Their policies will be implemented in full, and will be evaluated by history.

See above.

kronos wrote:Whether the Perry administration restores the economy or delivers it the death blow, the days of the Tea Party's "grass-roots protest movement" phase, with the picket signs and marches and the "outsider" image, will soon draw to a close. They will be the new status quo.

See above the above.

TexasBlue wrote:

kronos wrote:The Tea Party will cease to be a protest movement, and will become the establishment.

I don't think so. They'll become irrelevant when Bama is gone.... unless the next GOP president turns into some big gov't sloth like Bush did.

The Tea Party is the dominant faction of the party that controls Congress, so they are halfway to being the establishment.

Once a Tea Partier is elected President, the revolution will be complete.

kronos wrote:The Tea Party is the dominant faction of the party that controls Congress, so they are halfway to being the establishment.

Once a Tea Partier is elected President, the revolution will be complete.

I hardly call 53 people a dominant force. Yes, that's the number of people in the TP caucus.

I think you're taking this beyond what it is. I sincerely believe that once Obama is ousted, then the TP folks will quiet down. But that's just my opinion.

I think you're right that the TP will quiet down once Obama is out--regardless of what the next guy does.

kronos wrote:I think you're right that the TP will quiet down once Obama is out--regardless of what the next guy does.

That's my prediction. It's based on the fact that there won't be someone for them to fight against.... unless the possible GOP prez turns into another Bush (big spender).

TexasBlue wrote:

kronos wrote:I think you're right that the TP will quiet down once Obama is out--regardless of what the next guy does.

That's my prediction. It's based on the fact that there won't be someone for them to fight against.... unless the possible GOP prez turns into another Bush (big spender).

What I'm saying is that the TP will go away even if the next GOP prez turns into another Bush (big spender). After all, where was the TP during the Bush years? I think to a very large degree, the TP is partisan-driven, and don't object to big gov't per se so much as big gov't under a Democratic administration.

The left does the same thing. Notice how much less controversial Iraq, Guantanamo, DODT etc. became once Obama stepped in. Or the way certain people rail against Bush's deficits but not Obama's. Americans are partisan animals.

And if Perry does not become a big spender, he will be bucking a strong trend for recent Republican presidents.

kronos wrote:What I'm saying is that the TP will go away even if the next GOP prez turns into another Bush (big spender). After all, where was the TP during the Bush years? I think to a very large degree, the TP is partisan-driven, and don't object to big gov't per se so much as big gov't under a Democratic administration.

The left does the same thing. Notice how much less controversial Iraq, Guantanamo, DODT etc. became once Obama stepped in. Or the way certain people rail against Bush's deficits but not Obama's. Americans are partisan animals.

And if Perry does not become a big spender, he will be bucking a strong trend for recent Republican presidents.

The TP is a result of the conditions bred by Bush and expounded 10-fold by Obama. Many conservatives (myself included) abandoned Bush. GWB was Obama-lite, imo.

And yeah.... the wind changes with whomever is in office.

A mitigating factor though; Bush had his own party running congress for 6 of his 8 years. Obama had his own for 2 years. Those are recipes for disaster. Always.