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By MARC McDONALD
Texas Gov. Rick Perry suffered one of the most spectacular debate fiascos in history Thursday night when he was unable to name the third of three government agencies that he'd eliminate, if elected president.
A couple of quick observations about Perry's latest idiocy. One: in the future, he should follow the example of Sarah Palin. Next time, Perry should write down notes on his palm, like Palin did in a TV interview in 2010 (see above video).
A second, and less funny, observation: I disagree that this latest episode dooms Perry's campaign. After all, Perry still has the most potent weapon in U.S. politics: lots of deep-pocketed financial backers. These are ruthless, powerful people who are used to getting their way.
Another advantage Perry enjoys: tens of millions of fanatical GOP voters who are chomping at the bit to cast their vote for anyone besides President Obama in 2012.
Think I'm exaggerating? Consider this: in 2004, George W. Bush was presiding over one of the most disastrous terms that any president has inflicted upon the nation in history. And what did voters do? They turned around and sent Bush back to the White House for another four years.
We should remember: it's still a long, long ways to Election Day, 2012.
News and opinion with a progressive viewpoint.
A lot of folks would argue that Obama would shred Perry in a debate. But I'm not even sure that matters so much. After all, Gore thumped Bush in the debates in 2000 and Kerry crushed Bush in the 2004 debates. And yet Chimpy still went to the White House.
ReplyDeleteHi Jack, thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeletere:
>>Perry is so damn stupid, in most
>>states, he'd have troubled being
>>elected dog catcher.
Definitely true. Actually, I don't think ANY Republicans these days are particularly bright. That shouldn't be surprising, as stupidity seems to be a virtue among the base. It's increasingly been that way since Reagan.
I recall the days of Nixon. Yes, he was a big-time asshole. But one thing about Nixon is you could never call him stupid. The man was sharp, well-read and well-informed. Of course, the GOP of that era was trillions of light years removed from the knuckle-draggers that make up the party today. In fact, Nixon was, on domestic policy, an extreme far-left Liberal by today's standards. As Michael Moore once accurately wrote, Nixon was actually the last Liberal president we've had in this nation.