After a disappointing fifth place finish, Perry said he was going back to Texas to “reassess” his campaign. Some have suggested he is all but certain to drop out after having spent some $4 million in Iowa, only to get 10% of the vote. He spent upwards of $300 per vote, compared to just 73 cents for Santorum. To be sure, that’s bad, but perhaps it isn’t nearly as bad as people make it out to be when there were only a few thousand votes separating the first from last.

It isn’t over yet. After all, Governor Rick Perry likes to run. He tweeted a picture of himself running, wearing his Texas A&M running shorts and giving a thumbs-up, with the caption “the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State. … Here we come South Carolina!!!”

Perry likes running so much that, on one occasion in 2010, with his laser-sighted pistol in hand, he killed a coyote while running, sending it “to where coyotes go.”  He believes that jogging can help him get his mojo back and win the Iowa caucus after suffering spinal surgery this summer.

Now he’s running in his eleventh straight election–the first out of Texas–for the presidency. So how’s Perry doing in his first national bid?

Not well. Indeed, if you believe the conventional political narrative, his campaign ended when he said “oops” during a November debate. Political commentary was unforgiving. Larry J. Sabato spoke for many when he said, ”To my memory, Perry’s forgetfulness is the most devastating moment of any modern primary debate.”

But as so often is the case, the conventional narrative is wrong–or, at least, exaggerated. Governor Perry is actually doing quite well. Does this sound like a moribund campaign? (more…)

Michele Bachmann’s decision to vote against raising the debt ceiling, and to campaign on that stance, may turn out to be a decisive event in the race for the GOP nomination–and the presidency.

Whether that was the right policy for the economy is still an open question–especially since the U.S. credit rating was downgraded anyway. But it was the right decision for American politics, because it assures voters a real choice in 2012.

2012 is about the future. (Bachmann campaign)

The turning point in the 2008 contest was the financial crisis of mid-September–and the decision by John McCain to support the massive taxpayer bailout of Wall Street. That may or may not have been the right economic decision; economists are still debating that, and plenty of conservatives supported the bailouts. But it robbed American voters of the chance to choose an alternative to Barack Obama’s big government philosophy.

By the time McCain arrived at the first presidential debate on September 26, 2008, there was little apparent difference between the two candidates on the substantive question of the role and size of government. Only Sarah Palin managed to articulate an unabashed defense of the free market–one that held Wall Street accountable but also emphasized personal responsibility rather than the need for government intervention in the economy.

As House Majority Leader Eric Cantor notes in a must-read interview in the Wall Street Journal, the 2012 election will offer voters the debate over the role of government that voters deserved–and which the GOP was too timid to offer–in 2008. Any Republican candidate, including those now positioning themselves as moderates, would be better than Obama on that question–but who would best articulate the Republican position? (more…)

From the Associated Press:

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said early Sunday that he won’t run for president because of family considerations, narrowing the field in the race for the GOP nomination.

“In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one,” Daniels said, disclosing his decision in an e-mail to supporters. “The interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all. If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry.”

(more…)