Say hello to Rick Perry and goodbye to everyone else. The Texas governor plopped himself into the middle of the race for the republican presidential nomination last week. And his steaming presence is making the rest of the field not only irrelevant but almost invisible.
All of a sudden nobody cares if Mitt Romney flips, or flops, Michele Bachmann "prays the gay away" or checks on Elvis in the john. So what if that Cain guy sold pizzas even convicts wouldn't eat, or Saint Rick Santorem lost his last election to a democrat by 17 points (think Germany vs. Poland).
All that mattered was..."The Texas Miracle" had arrived. More on that in a moment. Perry, taking his cue from the nation's right-wing hate-media machine kicked off his God-inspired campaign by questioning the President's patriotism and love for America.
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The rest of the field has insinuated as much but it took a swaggering and cynical opportunist to activate a media that feeds on low hanging fruit. The buzz was deafening.
Ironically the "LIBERAL" media could well be Perry's handmaiden in securing his party's nomination. It is true that job growth in Texas has been huge. It is also true that Texas ranks near the top in minimum wage jobs without benefits, near the bottom in education spending, near the top in high school dropouts, very dirty air, lax regulations and a high poverty rate.
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Some miracle. Perry has done very well buying distressed properties then selling them to businesses that move to Texas, at a tidy profit. And he fairly swims in oil money. Could Perry become our next "W"? It's possible. The current President has no stomach for a fight and that means Perry could glide right in. When I was a kid there was a great villain caricature called "oil-can Harry." A sinister guy who stole from widows and used little kids as doorstops. Not saying....but "oil-can Perry" does have a nice ring.
