As you know, I’m a Herman guy, but like Rick Perry a lot. I want to see him do well. And I’d like to see Rick Perry knock Mitt Romney’s block off.
Every one knows Romney’s plan; run Perry off quick because Cain will be easy to handle next year. I don’t think the Romney people have consulted Jerry Brown about his dad’s similar opinion in 1966 about Ronald Reagan, but I’ll save that for another time.
What I’d like to see done is to have injected in this campaign a broader vision of conservatism and that “American exceptionalism thingy,” not only as a way to distinguish conservatives from the Left of Barack Obama, but the moderates of the GOP Establishment.
That’s not just a winner, it needs to be said, for it’s no more than pausing once a day to say grace over our meal, a reminder that we know from whence all good things come. I think, it’s equally important to insinuate into every face-to-face conversation with Romney or Obama, some mention of where all good things have gone as well, and how much America wants them, and needs them back.
And actually, Rick Perry, so far at least, is the best man to do this.
And it wouldn’t do his campaign any harm either.
If you haven’t listened to Perry’s speech at Liberty University about 3 weeks ago, dig it up. (The entire 29 minutes is available.)
Very powerful, this is a side of him Perry does not project in debates. In fact, none of the candidates do except possibly Rick Santorum, only he whines about it while mentioning no one’s paying attention to him.
I don’t know if it’s his handlers, or just his natural mien, but Perry constantly tries to drag every issue back to jobs and the economy, and how he did it in Texas, making him sound almost as one dimensional at Ron Paul. Not a good thing.
No one, not Herman, not any of them can speak to love of country, and wanting to restore the national sense of morality, or refinding our compass better than Rick Perry. I’ve heard him. And he can do it in a natural, off-the-cuff manner, again, which is native to him.
Why candidates don’t find some way to squeeze this into the conversation when facing one another I can’t say.
This is a card Romney can’t counter, anytime, any day. He projects competence as an aluminum siding salesman projects competence. He cannot project a depth greater than this if he tried.
I suggest Rick Perry learn to play this card better. This is his Ace.
Conservatism’s greatest strength is conservatism.
