Some prominent evangelical conservative leaders will be backing Gov. Rick Perry of Texas if he runs for the Republican presidential nomination. Reports emerged over the weekend that a number of key Christian conservative leaders -- including John Hagee, whose endorsement was spurned by John McCain in 2008, and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council -- touched base in June and agreed that Perry was the best candidate in the Republican field Speaking of Perry, if he does enter the presidential contest, whileit will be late, he has proven that he has the ability to bring in the dough. The Republican Governors Association -- for which Perry serves as the chairman -- brought in more than $22 million in the first half of 2011 ... Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania continues to roll the dice on winning Iowa. The former senator is stumping the state this week, focusing on job creation. He has also been taking to the airwaves, making three cable news appearances on Tuesday
Must be something in the water in Georgia. While former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich faced staff members leaving his team last month, over the Independence Day weekend, another Republican candidate from the Peach State also had campaign defections. This time it was Herman Cain, the businessman who is a favorite of the tea party movement. Cain lost Tina Goff who was heading up his Iowa team and Kevin Hall who was focusing on leading his efforts in the Iowa straw poll in August. He also lost Charlie Gruschow who had been active with the tea party movement in Des Moines. Cain had lost key members of his New Hampshire team back in June There is some good news for Cain: He routed the field in a straw poll held by the Cobb County Republicans in Georgia. Cain took 43 percent of those that voted while Gingrich took second with 14 percent, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota placed third with 13 percent and Perry took 10 percent. But half of the attendees at the event remained undecided about who they were backing in 2012 and did not vote ... In the meantime, with the Iowa straw poll on the horizon, Gingrich is rebuilding his efforts in the Hawkeye State. Over the weekend, Gingrich brought in former U.S. Rep. Greg Ganske to serve as his finance chairman in the state
Over the weekend, the National Education Association (NEA) endorsed President Barack Obama for another term. While the teachers' unions backing the Democratic incumbent comes as no surprise, there had been a question about when the endorsement would be unveiled While Obama himself did not go to Chicago for the NEA convention, Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the attendees on Sunday and took aim at the Republicans. Biden hammered Republicans for not backing public education and accused them of looking to blame teachers for the nations educational woes Jon Corzine, the former Goldman Sachs CEO who served as governor and a U.S. senator from New Jersey, has been dispatched to Wall Street to mend fences for the Obama team. Corzine was also part of a group of financial leaders working through the DNC who met with Obama to talk about the economy in June. Politico speculates that Corzine could be lining up for a job if Obama wins a second term -- and clearly his time in the U.S. Senate would help make his confirmation easier
Former state Rep. David Duke of Louisiana is hitting the road in July, visiting more than 20 states as he considers making a second run for the Republican presidential nomination. Duke, a white nationalist who was with the Ku Klux Klan, ran for the Democratic nomination in 1988 and the Republican nod in 1992. He is probably best known politically for winning the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Louisiana back in 1991 ... In an interview with Chris Hedges over at OpEdNews that was published on Monday, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who has made frequent attempts at the presidency and garnered 1 percent of the popular vote in the 2008 elections, said it was very unlikely that he would run for the presidency as a third party or independent candidate in 2012 despite his dissatisfaction with the Obama administration Biomedical engineer Kent Mesplay is making his third bid for the Green Party presidential nomination. Mesplay ran in both 2004 and 2008 and was the partys nominee for the U.S. Senate back in 2006.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (85) 727-0859.
