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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Punch Counter Punch

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 12th, 2011 at 03:01 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

This morning, Mitt Romney surprised a lot of people by announcing Tim Pawlenty’s endorsement of his campaign. One former Pawlenty staffer emailed me lamenting that they’d run against “Obameycare” and then this?

That’s politics.

Pawlenty will be in Florida tonight for the CNN-Tea Party Express debate. And so will Governor Bobby Jindal. This afternoon the Perry campaign announced their counter punch to the Pawlenty news. Gov. Jindal is endorsing Perry.

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  • rinowatch

    T-Paw took a job with Romney’s campaign, right? That is a lot like an endorsement, I guess.

  • aeaeren

    is a GREAT pickup. Instead of Rubio for Vice President (I am still trying to keep my Senator) I would toss in Jindal also.

  • snowshooze

    Over at Politico
    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63269.html

  • Marcus_Traianus

    Because we need McCain with better hair. It worked so well last election.

  • Scope

    That is terrific news for the Perry campaign. Now we just need to get Romney and Bachmann going after Perry for his Ponzi rhetoric and it is entirely possible that Perry will get the ultimate endorsement from Rush. I’d love to see Bob McDonald endorse Perry at the Wed. luncheon that I am attending. That’s entirely possible as McDonald has made some noise about being interested in a VP slot.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    ..

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    We cannot just give away a senatorship for the purpose of a running mate.

    Or, in other words a conservative senator is much more important than a vice president, since there are good candidates to chose from who are not sitting senators.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    a great choice for VP, but even his endorsement is barely relevant. The nomination is basically Perry’s to lose in my opinion. His performance in dealing with media and opponent attacks will seal his fate.

  • aeaeren

    unlike the McLame is TAKING IT TO OBAMA. Don’t play the I won’t discuss this and that. Obama is a complete failure and the media can’t save him if the Canidate doesn’t allow him to slide around the issues during the debate. Hold him to account!

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    nt

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    if she thinks going after Perry on social security is a good idea.

    Conservative radio (Levin, Rush, etc…) has been pretty friendly to Bachmann, but if she starts defending the social security status-quo, and goes after Perry for (accuratly) calling social security a ponzi scheme, conservative radio will bite her head off.

  • irishgirl

    Star Parker has an excellent article out today about Perry and his Ponzi remarks. I too would take a Jindal endorsement over Pawlenty.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    That has been his strategy as a “front runner”. Hang low and hope the other guys self-destruct or fail to catch up to him in time.

    Romney would go up against Obama thinking Obama’s poplularity ratings as so low that all Mitt has to do is just not screw up.

    Romney would run a 100% bland campaign. And he might even win, but he wouldn’t have a mandate to actually do anything, because his campaign slogan would have been “I’m not Obama.”

  • Glaucon

    Pawlenty and Jindal are first in line.

  • Green_Lantern

    that Perry has already been picked by everybody. Our next President is going to be Al Gore’s former campaign manager. Are you guys that stupid?

  • aeaeren

    with the state of affairs in LA politics it would so much easier to replace a GOP governer there then a senator here. Florida has the transplants who are trying to escape tyrany from the North but keep voting for it here issue.

  • aeaeren

    Reagan was a Democrat at one point in his life also. It’s hard to swallow he was with Gore but I think some sensiable Texan beat him over the head and he learned.

  • snowshooze

    nt

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    but you have to understand two things, many a staunch conservative was a liberal at one time.

    and, one time Gore was not the crazy charlatan he is now, or maybe he was, but it was before he went 100% in that direction.

  • minister_of_war

    … It would only work out for Perry if people defend him for saying it & if he can continue to get endorsements from big-name Republican elected officials. Jindal is definitely a “big name”!

  • Tbone

    NT

  • Scope

    they are wise enough to know that many human beings change and become more conservative with life’s experiences under their belt after a 30 year period, especially when they start paying taxes. Apparently the saying that if you are 20 and not a Democrat, you have no heart, if you are 40 and are not a conservative you have no brains, fits Perry to a T. We also know for a fact that Gore was considered a Blue Dog Democrat back when Perry worked for him in Texas. So the 40 conservative and brains worked in the opposite manner on Gore. He became radically liberal in his old age.

  • JSobieski

    I like Bachmann as a Congresscritter. She is a reliable vote. Her personal story is impressive given all of the foster kids she raised.

    All that said, she has had two opportunities to make a stand with regards to entitlement reform, and both times she buckled.

    The first time was in her Fox interview when she put an asterisk beside her “support” of the Ryan Roadmap because she didn’t want seniors to have their medicare benefits put at risk.

    The second time is in attacking Perry.

    This shows why non-executive voting records are bunk. There is no consistency in saying (1) absolutely no way to a debt ceiling raise right now hile also (2) backing off at best (and attacking the brave at worst) when people talk about getting entitlements under control.

    Lets say we didn’t raise the debt ceiling this year, and instead we cut 1/3 of the budget. Does she think the impact on seniors would be less than if the Roadmap had been passed? That is quantitatively untrue.

    Legislators can make big speeches and cast “correct” votes without being consistent in their actions.

    I can’t reconcile Bachmann on the debt ceiling with Bachmann on SS re: Perry. Can anyone else?

  • Scope

    sternly warned Romney and Bachmann today on air not to attack Perry tonight on the Ponzi comment. He said he would go to bat for Perry if they did.

  • Darin_H

    it’s a pretty wise strategy this year wrt to the general election prior to Perry’s entry into the race. Generic Republican beats Obama better than anyone else, and that’s what Mittens has been trying to be.

  • Darin_H

    but both parties used to have liberal, moderate and conservatives.

    History. How does it work?

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    Yet he was more conservative than most Republicans. It’s a southern thing.

    I know it’s hard to comprehend, but until just the last few years, the GOP in the south was virtually not existant–few office holders, and almost no organization. Prior to 2002, Georgia hand not elected a Republican governor in over 140 years (don’t just gloss over that fact, re-read it and think about what it implies).

    Prior to 1990, as a practical matter in the south there was only one political party–the Democratic party. It didn’t matter what your political beliefs were, if you wanted to have any hope of having a long political career, you became a Democrat.

    1990-2000 was really a transition period in the south. The GOP finally got its footing and got organize. Southern Democrats started switching to the GOP (because it finally became a viable party in the south and was closer to what most southern Democrats believed).

    If you’re a southerner and still a Democrat today, that’s a problem. But if you were a Democrat in the past then switched over to the GOP, that just means you’re part of a cultural shift that took place in the south in the 1990s-no big deal.

    If you still have a problem with Perry having shifted parties in the past, all I can say is: it’s a southern thing, you wouldn’t understand.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    People forget that in the past Gore was much more conservative than he is today. Not only pro-life but he also pushed for lyric ratings on albums.

    Gore sold his soul to the left to secure the VP slot, and he never looked back.

    It would be interesting to dig up some of Gore’s position papers from his presidential campaign. They’ll find that they are very different from what he espouses today. Of couse, people forget that in 1992 Clinton ran as a “conservative Democrate”, someone from the right wing of his party.

  • Darin_H

    but I’d take him over 3/4ths + of the Republican party.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    and not just in LA, so it is a hugh endorsement.

    I’m not sure if he plays all the way up to South Carolina, but there are plenty of people with LA connections as far east as GA. I’ve yet to find anyone from LA to have a bad opinion of Jindal, in fact I’ve yet to find anyone that doesn’t love him (running across the political spectrum).

    Jindal would have a real impact on LA, Arkansas, Tenn, Miss, Ala, & GA.

  • Scope

    it was a direct result of working for the Gore campaign that made him switch to being a Republican. If Perry had problems with a Blue Dog Dem, you know he is an authentic conservative, not just a Republican.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    We’ve had decades of winning, but not changing anything. There isn’t a point in winning if we don’t have enough of a mandate to undo Obama’s damage.

    Would Romney have the mandate to repeal Obamacare? Would he be willing to use most of his political capital to get it done? If he isn’t willing to stick his neck out before he’s sworn in, would he be willing to afterwards?

  • rightwingmom52

    and if McDonald endorses, we’ll expect to hear it from you first.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    Perry probably saw up close and personal the difference between the national Democratic party and his state Democratic party.

    Of course, not they’re all progressives at every level of the Democratic party.

  • rightwingmom52

    but he was always a politician first.

    Way back as in the early ’80′s, I worked for the state of TN as a social worker. Gore was the speaker at a local event. He claimed to be pro life but had made other comments that troubled me, so I had written him a letter asking his position on abortion. He wrote back and said he was pro life, but again made noise about it being a very personal issue. I asked him after his speech if he was pro choice. I suppose since I asked in a non-confrontational way, he assumed I was pro-choice. In any event, when pressed, he answered that he was, so I pulled out my letter and his answer and asked again. Of course, he tried to backpedal his answer, but it was too late. He was a liar then and is a liar now. If you can’t tell, I despise Algore, probably more than any politician in my lifetime.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    There are a few people like that in history.

  • rightwingmom52

    but Perry’s record clearly shows he’s moved as far away from Gore and his policies as he can. Not much more he can do about it now.

  • Darin_H

    You’re right about the governing and the policies, which I didn’t address – just the political reality of ‘generic Rep’ is polling the best (referendum on Obama). My personal preference is Perry>Romney.

  • Scope

    and believe it or not my husband is really looking forward to the luncheon also. I doubt that I’ll get close enough to Perry to take pictures with my cell, as we only got the cheap seats. We couldn’t afford the $10,000 tickets for a table of ten.

    If he snags McDonald’s endorsement, I’ll post it for sure, but, it’s about an hours drive back home, and you will see it in the news before I get home I’m sure. I will post a comment on my experience though.

  • Scope

    Perry said that working for Gore’s Texas campaign is what made him switch to being a Republican. We got the better end of the deal for sure.

  • AceInTX

    and the fact that he was McCain’s favorite Republican just after his shellacking in 2008 can’t be forgotten

  • florida772

    redstate should be renamed perrystate

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    I once wrote a long diary here about the switch from the solid south to the republican south. The big liberal myth is that all the old racists just switched party in the 1970′s

    Of course that is a laughable lie. Those old yellow dog democrats like my racists old uncles would NEVER EVER switch to Republican, you could shoot them and they would not ever switch.

    The switch began with my generation, when I was in college and Ronald Reagan was elected. He offered a different idea than the what the old parties had offered. The idea of a conservative opportunity society that was open to everyone, and not dependent on government.

    The other big factor was the rise of abortion as an issue. Anti abortion forces, very strong in the christian south, led to increased republican party participation.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    the only difference between now and the past is that you can see it happen before your eyes on the interwebs.

  • Darin_H

    RONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAUL
    RONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAUL
    RONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAUL
    RONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAUL
    RONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAUL
    RONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAULRONPAUL

  • itsjoanne

    since he and Perry are from neighboring states. He’d be great as Energy Sec or HHS though.

  • KBDay

    Jindal is a great asset to Perry because almost every conserv I know respects the Louisiana governor. So Perry got a good one there.

    Personally, I would really like to see Jindal on a ticket as VP candidate.

    Perry has his work cut out for him in Florida. It’s rather surprising to see the holdover of support for Romney from ’08. Behind the scenes and publicly, old money and the longtime powers in the party are lining up for Romney. And you have to admit he did good by the party, helping with campaigns and such during the midterm.

    I’d also add there are still plenty of racists in the Democrat party here in the South.

  • SoFiMil

    Flip-flop-flip-flop-flips are not. Especially so when one plays politics with the lives of the unborn.

  • runner12

    Pawlenty seems like a nice person, but my respect for him has taken a nose-dive after he endorsed Mittens.

    A Jindal endorsement is better any day of the week. He has a solid conservative record.

  • izoneguy

    Let’s go ask Sarah Palin, she is a crony capitalist eggspurt or sumtin……

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    are showing a character flaw in her. A craving for power when she went up in the polls that she has not handled well. Mitt, Perry and Cain look cool and calm and like leaders. Bachmann has lost me.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    absent many converts! period
    We should praise the lord that Perry switched.
    As did I!

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    on TV when I was Dem party Chairman in my county! Reagan was for FDR and Truman before he saw the light.

  • rightwingmom52

    Most of us have a skeleton or two in our closet. Mine was a vote for Carter, albeit that was back when I was young, stupid, idealistic and really didn’t pay much attention to politics.

    I’m just happy you’re on our side now and using your talents to promote conservatism!

  • pttx333

    I heard him today when he warned Romney and Bachmann – it will be very interesting to hear Rush tomorrow. He is and always has been one of the my favorite people, and I listen to him faithfully.

  • onemovoter

    Perry put out a statement of endorsement for Al Gore, but never worked for Gore in any way, unless endorsing is work lol.

    Just wanted to get that out there.

    I actually think it started for Perry during the Reagan years. He said his father sat with him watching Reagan and said “This Reagan, I think we can deal with him, he’s honest” if I remember the quote correctly.

  • pttx333

    after the Perry luncheon. Have fun!!

  • Danielle Davis (ocleverone)

    I’m not sure about the VP spot. I was thinking that it possibly due to McDonnell being Chair of the Republican Governors Association.

    He can’t have Bob. We need him here.

  • Green_Lantern

    that you mention that Kyle, because it is so true. Just today I read an article purporting to to quote an aide of Johnson’s saying to him, right after he signed the CRA in 64, “I fear we have delivered the South to the Republicans permanently.”

    I call Bravo Sierra on that quote, unless they can produce audio. These guys are in the process of trying to REWRITE HISTORY. It may be difficult to find information about Al Gore’s dad voting against said bill in 10 years.

  • Green_Lantern

    that he wrote in support of HillaryCare that RP brought up in the first debate?

    PS I’m not a Paulbot, I know very little about the guy and not nearly as much as other RS’ers.

  • onemovoter

    Perry wrote the letter way ahead of any proposal that came out. He was urging in the letter that reform for healthcare was needed, but once the hillarycare proposal came out, Perry turned against it, saying it was totally wrong.

  • Green_Lantern

    That is a solid answer and that takes that away from my consideration of Gov. Perry.

    I have also been introduced to something in the past 24 hours about never responding or attacking down in politics. That and your answer make me understand what happened between Perry and Paul that night.

    That’s why I would be the worst politician of all. Nobody would EVER be able to teach me that lesson.

  • Green_Lantern

    I’m not a sock puppet. I don’t know yet. And I’m no independent, I’m somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan. I just don’t drink anybody’s Kool-Aid. There’s a LOT of strong feelings out here about these candidates, and I don’t want to lose the forest for the 8 (or 9 or whatever) trees.

  • Green_Lantern

    how do THEY work?

  • onemovoter

    are about getting the truth out as much as possible. Most of us know that nobody is perfect, contrary to some worshipers, and accept some things that politicians do that seem to be the right thing at the time, but don’t work out.

    I know Perry hasn’t been perfect on everything that I think he could have done, but in the end I’m going to see who fits closest to what I’d like to see in a Presidential candidate who can win in the end.

    Two things I look for is being honest with what you believe in, even if a majority might disagree. This leads me to someone with a spine. which only a few on that stage tonight showed. The others were pandering. I can tell a leader when I see one, and I’m not referring to Bachmann or Romney.

  • aeaeren

    in Florida but I have live most of life in the South. I learned with Mississippi politics to pay attention to the candiate and not the party. I voted for Gene Taylor several times and he was a Democrat but he was MUCH better then Trent Lott in my opinion. I never did like MS senators to tell you the truth, but once you get in it’s the good ole network and hard to get them out.

  • JSobieski

    We get to see how the person responds to pressure, temptation, and temptation in a more vivid way.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    I think this reveals a character problem that exec exp would not cure.

  • JSobieski

    Executives don’t have the option of simply voting right. There are consequences for executive action/inaction.

    Bachmann has had a free ride in Congress.

    She opposes raising the debt ceiling by 1 cent, but she doesn’t bother to put out a plan to get there. Its easy for legislators to play a bit fast and loose with issue coherence, but an executive will get caught doing the same thing (see Obama).

  • snowshooze

    Come on where?
    You just slammed Perry and made a general insult…and if you haven’t ruled out Perry yourself…
    I would think you had at least some preference at this point.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    Vaccination: Rather than he hates cancer (who doesn’t) or “life” (duh?), the best argument that NO ONE WAS FORCED TO TAKE THE SHOT, ie there was an opt out!

    Why no fence? He never says. Rather, its just boots on the ground. He knows that we certainly could build a fence, right? And that we could sill have boots on the grounds but would need less boots on the ground and that only boots on the ground would actually cause there to be MORE violent confrontations on our side of the border, right?

    On in-state tuition he implied the rest of us are racists rather than emphasize that he is helping minors that have been raised there that aren’t accountable for parents’ crimes or even their own legally. And that he can’t deport, only the Feds can, and so he has to deal with them until the Feds do their job.

    more later