If Rick Perry is running.....

[BlueDemKev]

...what's keeping him from announcing his candidacy??? Also, if he runs, should we consider him a shoo-in for the Republican nomination? Chances are he'll quickly unite the economic and social conservative factions of his party, and let's face it--the Republicans LOVE right-wing Texans! :puke:

[RZM]

1. From what I hear

He's trying to line up the $$ before committing.

The Texas governor thing will work against him. I'll bet plenty of Republicans blame Bush for Obama the same way that some Democrats blame Clinton for Bush. I don't see him getting the nomination.

[BlueDemKev]

2. I don't know....

Most Republican voters who have any brains will see Bachmann as an embarrassment and Romney will be a hard sell to today's conservatives....he's from Mass., enacted a health insurance reform law there which Obama based his reform law on, plus he's a Mormon which will NOT go over well with the Christian Right. I see Perry as the instant front-runner if/when he steps into the race. Any idea when he'll make a final decision?

[a la izquierda]

3. My conservative BIL...

was all gung-ho about a Perry/Rubio ticket. That is, until I mentioned the whole secession thing (well, first I had to convince him of what he said AND send him a FoxNews link...). We're from the northeast and that kind of attitude towards the Union doesn't fly.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. I'm expecting him to announce around the beginning of the second week in August.

He's using up all the state funds for his travel expenses he can before he makes it formal. Anytime after his big prayer (aka, panderpalooza 2011) event you can look for his announcement.

[RZM]

5. It's going to be an interesting primary season

I do think that if he gets in, it will be a three-way contest between Romney, Perry, and Bachmann. Romney might not be the first choice of the base, but neither was John McCain. Of course, that didn't go so well for them so perhaps the 'swing' primary voters might try something different this time. But if I were putting money on it, I'd still have to go with Romney.

Don't know when he plans on deciding, though I think there is an Iowa deadline of some sort that's looming in the next month.

[Solomon]

6. Perry has a skeleton or two in his closet. And I don't mean

the secession thing. Otherwise he would have declared by now. They're working to see if it can be fixed.

[BlueDemKev]

8. What about this rumored rivaly with George W. Bush?

Rumor has it that Perry has had a falling out with Dubya and Bush is supposedly trying to sabotage his potential candidacy. That's interesting, because I lived in Texas in the late '90s, and those guys were two peas in a pod from 1998 to 2000. Perry was elected Lt. Gov. in '98, the same year Bush was re-elected governor there. What's sad is that Perry only won by a 52-48% margin over Democrat John Sharp. Many observers said that had it not been for Bush's landslide victory (69% of the vote), Perry probably would have lost. Many believe had the Democrats simply let Bush run unopposed, enough conservative voters probably would have stayed home denying Perry the extra votes he needed to win.

[flamin lib]

7. Hmmm, a conservative Republican fundamental governor from Texas

What could possibly go wrong?

[Ilsa]

9. He's waiting for his Dog to tell him what to do. nt