Even before the candidates had finished shaking hands after last night’s debate, there was an avalanche of jokes running around the Twittersphere with various wags proclaiming that, “the winner of the debate was Rick Perry.” I’m not so sure about that. First of all, the entire field seemed to make it though without any serious implosions and supporters will be making the case for their candidates’ perceived “victory” all weekend. (We’ll have more on that later today.)
On the flip side of the coin, there are now a few different voices popping up saying that Texas Governor Rick Perry may have suffered the worst from the debate by not appearing. (An argument which loses some steam when you consider that he’s still not an officially declared candidate.) First we heard Huck weighing in on the subject, and now Hawkeye State rising star Steve King seems to have a burr under his saddle regarding Perry.
AMES, Iowa — Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a Tea Party star in the Hawkeye State, attacked Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) hours ahead of the Republican presidential debate for his decision to announce his campaign plans on Saturday, the same day as the Ames Straw Poll.
“Rick Perry has strategically decided he’s going to try to step on the straw poll by making his announcement concurrent with the straw poll itself… His effort is to diminish the straw poll and if you diminish the straw poll you diminish the Iowa caucus,” King told The Hill Thursday evening. “Iowans understand this. Does he think we’re a bunch of country bumpkins?”
Oh no! You did not just play the country bumpkin card!
You can’t completely discount the possibility of understandably proud Iowans engaging in a bit of pique if they feel their state has been “dissed.” But I’m not sure how much Perry really has to worry about here. Early polling is already showing that Perry will jump into the race in a virtual tie for the lead, and his Christian Conservative bona fides will still probably be quite salable in Iowa. Perry is also doubtless aware that he doesn’t have to get many write-in votes in the straw poll. The real contest in the Battle of Iowa won’t happen until next year and he’s still got plenty of time to smooth over ruffled feathers and try to make the sale.
And if he fails? Again, I’m not sure he’s going to lose a lot of sleep if he doesn’t take Iowa. Given their rather dodgy track record in picking the eventual nominee over the last couple of decades, a superstitious candidate might feel a little better off losing. The real question his strategists will be pondering is what the eventual field will look like and who’s going to drop out between now and then. And the list of drop-outs is almost certainly not going to include Rick Perry.
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