Typically, a Republican whose party allegiance has been frayed by fights with his state’s female GOP senator and who had openly suggested that his home state of Texas should secede from the union would not be considered a hot commodity in a presidential race.
But this is the run-up to a bizarre 2012 race, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry is smelling opportunity.
At RealClearPolitics, they put it this way: “As many grassroots Republicans remain in search of a conservative candidate with the pizzazz to go toe-to-toe against President Obama, a man from deep in the heart of Texas, who was Tea Party before the Tea Party was cool, appears to be giving the presidential race some thought.
Gov. Rick Perry has insisted on multiple occasions that he has no interest in the presidency, but RCP is reporting that political associates have begun to nose around quietly on Perry’s behalf.
A Texas pol who is close to Perry has been telling a few key strategists that the nation’s longest-serving governor sees a vacuum and is waiting to be summoned into the race, according to RCP.
“This source believes that could happen by late summer. Without fellow Southerners Haley Barbour or Mike Huckabee in the race — and with Newt Gingrich’s early troubles raising further doubts about the current lineup — there could be a glaring niche for Perry to fill,” RCP wrote on their web site.
According to another well-connected Republican, at least one Perry confidant has been very quietly making inquiries about the political terrain in the nation’s first voting state of Iowa. A third Perry associate, RCP has learned, has been heralding a small contingent of Iowans with the time-tested line that is often used by would-be candidates who are leaving their options open: “Keep your powder dry.”
At some point, this is going to be one wild stampede toward the GOP nomination.
Epilogue: One last post in this thread – left-wingers set aside principles as they smell victory.
