Perry hará seis paradas en NH

En Austin ya deben estar echándole en falta pero el Gobernador Perry todavía no piensa en retornar a casa. Concluido su tour de dos días por Iowa, hoy iniciará una pequeña gira por seis ciudades de New Hampshire, y cerrará la semana volviendo a Carolina del Sur para reunirse con potenciales apoyos financieros.

Sorprende en New Hampshire la atención que Perry está dedicando al estado de granito en esta su primera gira electoral, con dos visitas en cinco días, a diferencia de lo que suele ser habitual en los candidatos sureños que rara vez apuestan por este estado.

For a Southern presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been spending valuable time early on in New Hampshire, a secular state not known for its embrace of evangelical Republicans. But the time he’s spending here -and the fact that his political guru, Dave Carney, is a native intimately familiar with New Hampshire politics— shows that he’s playing for keeps in a state that could determine his prospects in both the primary and against President Obama.

His campaign foray Wednesday morning into Bedford Village at the state’s Politics and Eggs breakfast is a significant marker, providing an early road test of whether he can expand his support beyond the South and evangelical voters. The 235 expected attendees are the types that Perry will need to win over if he is to retain the top-tier status he earned instantly with his entrance last week.

If Perry can play in New Hampshire, even a solid second-place finish could rattle the local favorite Mitt Romney, and boost his presidential chances greatly. He’s already showing signs he’s intently focused on the state—his stop will be the second in five days since kicking off his campaign. If Bill Clinton was the Comeback Kid in New Hampshire in 1992, Perry could be the governor who defied the demographic odds in 2012. (...)

* Un ejemplo de lo útil que puede ser para un sureño un buen segundo puesto en NH.