Last night it looked like Rick Perry was throwing in the towel.\u00a0 This morning he tweeted about competing in South Carolina.\u00a0 Apparently \u00a0something happened over night to change his mind.\u00a0 One possibility is that Michelle Bachmann may have contacted the Perry campaign and promised to endorse him.\u00a0 One reason might be that Bachmann is a solid conservative and she does not believe that Rick Santorum can win.\u00a0 Another reason might be the realization of what else happened in Iowa, besides Perry coming in a dismal fifth.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Mitt Romney barely edged out Rick Santorum.\u00a0 Since Santorum was in the single digits a couple of weeks ago, that is more of an indication of the weakness of Romney than the strength of Santorum.<\/p>\n
Newt Gingrich is in serious trouble and is now on a mission from God to destroy Romney.\u00a0 That probably won\u2019t win the nomination for Gingrich but it certainly has the potential to hurt Romney.<\/p>\n
Ron Paul is clearly slipping in the polls.\u00a0 Iowa was probably his high water mark.<\/p>\n
Rick Santorum has had a free ride and we don\u2019t know how he will respond to a negative campaign.\u00a0 The Romney camp has totally ignored Santorum.\u00a0 That is about to change.\u00a0 Every other challenger to Romney has crashed and burned.\u00a0 Right now Santorum is burning bright.\u00a0 The question is whether or not he will flame out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That leaves us back exactly where we were a week ago.\u00a0 This is still a strong not-Romney block of the Republican Party and Perry knows that the last man standing has a real shot at the nomination.\u00a0 More importantly, Perry would not have made this decision without the strong urging of some really bright people who also have a lot of money.\u00a0 Perry was clearly ready to throw in the towel and someone or something changed his mind.<\/p>\n
Perry\u2019s performance in Iowa was pathetic.\u00a0 There is no getting around that.\u00a0 But part of the reason is that he has been ignored by the media.\u00a0 Even Fox News just stopped mentioning him as a candidate.\u00a0\u00a0 But Rush Limbaugh told everyone yesterday to not dismiss Rick Perry.\u00a0 Perhaps Rush contacted Perry and asked him to stay in a little longer.\u00a0 If you think about it, if Rush Limbaugh starts saying that people ought to take another look at Perry, people will take another look at Perry.\u00a0 Rush has more influence within conservative circles than anyone else in the country.\u00a0 It is also significant to note that while Sarah Palin told Bachmann to pack it up, she did not say that to Rick Perry.<\/p>\n
I do not know.\u00a0 Maybe Perry had another brain freeze and is incapable of recognizing the obvious.\u00a0 Or maybe he is a lot smarter than people think and this is not over.\u00a0 In any event the ball is now in Rick Santorum’s court.\u00a0 If he is capable of handling the ball, the Perry campaign will soon be really over.\u00a0 If not, we are left with a weak Mitt Romney and a vacant not-Romney slot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One thing is certain.\u00a0 Rick Santorum is about to be tested and we will soon learn how well he handles it.<\/p>\n
TDM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last night it looked like Rick Perry was throwing in the towel.\u00a0 This morning he tweeted about competing in South Carolina.\u00a0 Apparently \u00a0something happened over night to change his mind.\u00a0 One possibility is that Michelle Bachmann may have contacted the … Continue reading