The Spectacle Blog
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — “As a Texan, I’ve never shied away from a fight,” Rick Perry said in explaining his decision to drop out of the 2012 campaign as a “strategic retreat.”
“This campaign has never been about the candidate,” said the Texas governor, who soared to the top of the polls after announcing his Republican presidential candidacy in August, but saw his support evaporate after a series of disastrous debate performances in September. “I’ve always believed the mission is greater than the man.”
Perry endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whom he called a “visionary” and referred to as “a conservative leader who will bring about real change.” Perhaps mindful of the latest news about Gingrich — his ex-wife’s decision to give a tell-all interview to ABC News — Perry said, “Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?”
During his press conference at the Hyatt Place hotel here, Perry kissed his wife Anita, saying she had been “an incredible patriot during this process.” He called his failed presidential campaign a “privilege to learn and grow.”
Perry’s late entry to the GOP presidential field was attended by much media fanfare suggesting that he was certain to win the Republican nomination by becoming the conservative alternative to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Yet his campaign signaled overconfidence by its decision to skip the Iowa GOP Straw Poll in Ames — a traditional Republican campaign ritual — and instead announce his candidacy in South Carolina at a conference sponsored by the popular Red State blog. That was the first of many blunders by Perry and his campaign team. His poor debate performances were the most public of these embarrassments, but there were many other mistakes, as I explained last week:
His campaign reportedly spent $250,000 in their effort to win a Sept. 24 Florida GOP straw poll, only to be embarrassed by a lopsided loss to Cain.
Attempting to revive his candidacy, the Perry campaign spent millions of dollars to air TV and radio ads in Iowa … and achieved nothing but a fifth-place finish.
Perry reportedly was ready to quit after that humiliating loss, but instead decided to continue. Rather than campaigning in New Hampshire, Perry came directly to South Carolina only to experience further catastrophes: He denounced Romney as a “vulture capitalist,” which caused one of Perry’s major donors to shift his support to Romney and also caused Rush Limbaugh to compare Perry to Fidel Castro.
Exactly how valuable Perry’s endorsement will be to Gingrich is hard to estimate. Perry’s support in South Carolina had dwindled to single digits (4 percent in the latest Marist poll) and his decision to quit the race two days before Saturday’s primary may have been motivated by a desire to avoid being seen as a “spoiler.”
Yet if Romney ultimately wins the Republican nomination, it can be argued that Perry’s entire campaign — doomstruck from start to finish — accomplished nothing but to confuse conservatives, distracting them from viable conservative opponents to the moderate from Massachusetts. This is exactly what I predicted in August: “What I fear will happen is that Perry will spend several months sucking up media oxygen and burning through GOP donor cash, only to collapse early next year. This will have the effect of suffocating other conservative candidates, and thereby lead to … Romney 2012.”
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Jack in Wi.| 1.19.12 @ 11:37AM
Good riddence, may Gingrich and Santorum, soon join him on the ashheap.
Mimi| 1.19.12 @ 12:03PM
What a GREAT exit...for a Great man!
That man is one who puts the country first and has helped the Conservative cause.
fckewe| 1.19.12 @ 1:02PM
Face it hiney, you like him cause he walks like George Bush and Quacks like George Bush and ...
fckewe| 1.19.12 @ 1:01PM
hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa! Dumbass took 16 DAYS to figure out that he is a chrome plated 100 decibel loser! Then he backs the guy he vilified relentlessly for months so the other guy he and his PAC attacked to the tune of 10% of Romney's earnings...
Ken (Old Texican) | 1.19.12 @ 1:31PM
copy/paste alert
Ken (Old Texican)| 1.19.12 @ 12:07PM
"GIVE US BARABAS...GIVE US BARABAS!!!"
And with that, "we the people" crucified Jesus.
Other than Sam Houston, Rick Perry may very well go down in history as the greatest Texas Governor in history.
If Obama wins in November, I am personally thanking God that Perry remains Texas' Governor...of the largest economy among the United States.
In case anyone here has forgotten...Texas IS the energy State of the Union and Perry is the Governor. In that first debate, Perry simply thought he had listed the Energy Dept first....lost his train of thought momentarily, and was gleefully leaped upon by the MSM...as well as some turds here at TAS.
OK, Turds, just who in the Republican contenders is more intimately aware of the devastation the Energy Dept. along with the EPA...has wreaked upon low cost energy? Duh!
ONLY Governor Perry........scared the living sh*t out of the Democrats, since Sarah chose not to run.
So,
the Democrats, their loving MSM, and some true dumbasses here at TAS fell for their propaganda.
Well,
I hope you turds enjoy your punch-bowl.
When Governor Perry gets back to Texas...whoa nellie!
If you think he was a strong tenth ammendment proponent before this trashing...just grab your asses and hold on tight!
He tried his best to EXTEND the blessings of liberty and prosperity Texans enjoy... to your own stupid bankrupt States.
You "the people" now have to choose among Mr. Milque Toast, Mr. Wife Deserter, or Mr. Prude.
One little fact you may have forgotten; Texas can charge any amount of $$$ "separation fees" we choose when exporting oil and gas interstate.
OOPS!
(the correct term escapes me at the moment, but watch your gas pump. Does anyone remember the proper term for "taxing depletion" ?)
Remember when the discussions erupted about Texas becoming a "no-fly zone" due to egregious searches to airline passengers here in Texas being objected to?
Hah!
You ain't seen nothing yet!
Since the day of his announcement to run...I found myself of two minds. On the one hand, I thought "what a great President he would be." On the other hand I thought " The stupids won't get it."
He was the only clean, Christian man in the race who had accomplished huge strides for his State and the country.
But the people screamed ..."Give us Barabas, Give us Barabas."
How did that work out?
Jeff Perren| 1.19.12 @ 2:54PM
It's really a pity, and a betrayal on the part of conservatives who failed to support the one (once) viable candidate who actually believed in the Constitution. He also had the rhetoric and the record to beat Barack Obama handily.
Instead, conservatives whined over trivial flaws and errors like Gardisil and lack of eloquence on TV. (He's quite articulate in person.)
A real shame and we'll be paying the price for at least the next five years, if not much longer (think SCOTUS appointments and nibbling at, rather than repealing ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank).
richard mcenroe | 1.19.12 @ 3:01PM
Quick! Now we must all turn to Ron Paul...
Nah, there's still cheap sangria on the shelves, no need to despair THAT deeply...