Perry siente la llamada de la Presidencia

Palabras del Gobernador Rick Perry al Des Moines Register:

(...) “I’m not ready to tell you that I’m ready to announce that I’m in,” Gov. Rick Perry told The Des Moines Register. “But I’m getting more and more comfortable every day that this is what I’ve been called to do. This is what America needs.” (...)

Aliados y rivales coinciden al destacar a Perry como un formidable campaigner:

(...) Even critics describe him as a charmer and tireless campaigner who has repeatedly toppled heavyweight political adversaries.

“I think he will push Sarah Palin and (Michele) Bachmann down the stairs so hard and so fast that he will emerge in the next three to four months as the darling of the fundamentalist religious right,” said Texas Rep. Lon Burnam, a Democrat and Perry critic.

Should Perry decide to run, supporters and foes alike predict Iowans would see an exhaustive campaign.

As evidence, they point to his 1990 run against incumbent Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower. Perry hired as a consultant Karl Rove, later the architect of Bush’s presidential campaigns.

With Rove’s help, Perry raised millions of dollars and hammered Hightower on politically sensitive issues, ranging from his 1988 support of the presidential bid of Jesse Jackson — viewed by many in Texas as a radical liberal — to a federal investigation that led to the prosecution of Hightower’s senior lieutenant for political corruption.

Perry was an unknown in many parts of the state, but he campaigned constantly, hitting gatherings such as Farm Bureau meetings in search of support, much like the retail politics that’s the grist of Iowa caucus campaigns.

Hightower said he recalled a television ad from Perry’s campaign that portrayed a stereotypical, long-haired hippie setting a flag on fire and throwing it to the ground before picturing Hightower. The impression was that Hightower supported flag burning.

That was blatantly false, Hightower said, but he believes the ad contributed to Perry’s narrow victory.

In whatever office Perry holds, “he’s constantly campaigning, and that’s what he did in this session of the Legislature,” Hightower said. “He’s trying to build a record that would let him run for president.”

Merrie Spaeth, a longtime public-relations consultant from Texas and former media director for President Ronald Reagan, called Perry “an electrifying campaigner” who instantly connects with an audience. Spaeth, whose late husband, Tex Lezar, was a friend of Perry’s, said his charm initially worked against him with some voters who may have seen him as just a pretty face.

“Years ago, people criticized him as being too cute,” Spaeth said. “Now, that’s become an asset. And in a day and age where we virtually demand that our national candidates understand how to use humor, he is a star.” (...)