The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Howdy. Thank You, Erick.’

Posted on | October 17, 2011 | 51 Comments

Those were the first four words of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s announcement speech at the Red State Gathering in Charleston, S.C., on Aug. 13. At the time, I was the only one who saw Perry’s diss of Iowa Republicans — his deliberate attempt to upstage the Ames Straw Poll held the same day — as an ominous portent of doom.

Perry’s decision to make his announcement in South Carolina was widely viewed at the time as a genius move that would lock down his support in a crucial early primary state, and once he emerged as the most viable conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, Perry would have no trouble making up whatever he’d lost in Iowa by dissing Ames.

Such was the conventional wisdom in August, but now today (via Wombat’s “Live at Five” aggregation) we see this headline:

Cain Takes Lead In South Carolina
ATLANTA — Herman Cain holds a decisive lead in the South Carolina Republican primary, according to a survey conducted Sunday for The Augusta Chronicle.
The InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research poll of 476 registered voters likely to vote in the GOP primary gave Cain 32 percent, twice the share of Mitt Romney’s 16.
Rick Perry holds 12 percent, making him essentially tied with Romney because the difference is within the 5 percent margin of error.
“In this case, South Carolina is a three-man race,” said InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery. . . .

In a telephone conversation over the weekend, a Perry supporter tried to convince me that the Texas governor is still the only viable alternative to Romney, that Herman Cain can’t possibly win the nomination, and that anyone who is supporting any candidate other than Perry is therefore effectively pro-Romney.

Believe what you want to believe, sweetheart. And for all I know, you may be right. I don’t even get invited to BlogCon, so I must be a complete idiot, which is why Perry is in fifth place — single digits! —  in recent Iowa polls, while The Guy Who Can’t Possibly Win the Nomination is leading Romney by eight points in the Hawkeye State.

I’m a complete idiot who knows nothing about politics or blogging (just ask Tabitha Hale), so it is beyond my ability to explain that, or to fathom why Rick “Viable Alternative” Perry is in sixth place — trailing Jon Huntsman! — in the recent New Hampshire polls.

By the time you get to the Stacy Wasn’t Invited Conference in Denver, my dear Perry-loving friend, maybe all of this will have changed.

Maybe Rick Perry will have bought $15 million worth of debate mojo, and maybe Herman Cain will have forgotten how to tie his own shoes. And then all the bloggers in Denver can laugh at me some more, just like you’ve been laughing at me all along.

If you don’t think I’m an idiot, please: Hit the freaking tip jar!

UPDATE: By the way, I mean to get an explanation from the Cain campaign about this video snippet from ABC News:

Either (a) somebody in Iowa isn’t doing their job right, or (b) ABC News invented a story. Either way, it’s not encouraging.

Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain, Iowa, New Hampshire, Polls, Rick Perry, South Carolina

Comments

51 Responses to “‘Howdy. Thank You, Erick.’”

  1. Ace Don’t Love Him No Herman Cain | Herman Cain PAC
    October 29th, 2011 @ 10:18 pm

    […] And I know Ace’s basic problem: He was in the room when Rick Perry announced at the Red State Gathering. Ace was lured to South Carolina and told he was buying a one-way ticket to glory on the Smilin’ Texan Express. (“Howdy. Thank you, Erick.”) […]