In his first week as a presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry made a big impression on Republican voters across the nation.
A poll from Probolsky Research looking at California found that Perry was running second in the Golden State behind former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. Romney led with 22 percent followed by Perry with 15 percent and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in third with 10.2 percent. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota came fourth with 8.5 percent while Herman Cain, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas were all tied in fifth with 4.8 percent ... In Wisconsin, both Perry and Bachmann got a bounce out of their recent successes. They were tied on top of a poll from Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with Democratic connections, with 20 percent each. Romney took third with 13 percent followed by Palin with 11 percent and Cain with 7 percent. Gingrich and Paul tied with 6 percent ... PPP also released a poll showing that President Barack Obama can expect a fight to keep Ohio behind him in the general election. Obama led Romney 45 percent to 43 percent. When matched up against Perry, Obama stayed at 45 percent while Perry took 41 percent. Obama did better against some of the other Republicans, beating Bachmann by 7 points, Cain by 8 percent and routing Palin by 13 percent. PPP noted that Ohio could be closer as more Republicans are undecided at the moment than Democrats in the Buckeye State ...
For the moment, Romney is ignoring Perry and focusing his attacks on Obama. On Thursday, the Romney camp started selling tie-dyed T-shirts attacking Obamas recent bus tour of the Midwest, labeling it the Magical Misery Tour ... While Romney is holding his fire, some of the other candidates have been jabbing Perry. In a speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday night, Paul --perhaps the leading critic of the Federal Reserve in politics --said that Perry took things too far when he used the term almost treasonous to describe Ben Bernankes actions. Former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum also took Perry to task for the phrase ... Gingrich continues to focus on states that are a bit off the usual campaign trail. This week, he headed out to Hawaii for fundraising. Gingrich faced a mass exodus of campaign staffers earlier in the year who criticized their candidate for not focusing on crucial early states like Iowa and New Hampshire and for spending too much time on vacation in locations like Greece ...
Fresh off of her win in the Iowa straw poll, Bachmann is looking to show she is a top-tier candidate in the race. A super PAC affiliated with former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell announced this week that it would support her presidential campaign. Citizens for a Working America joins Keep Conservatives United as super PACs behind the Minnesota congresswoman ... After dropping out of the race on Sunday morning following a distant third-place finish in the Iowa straw poll, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced this week that he has no intention of challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2012 ... Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said this week that he would be interested in the vice presidential spot on the Republican ticket ...
Despite Perry jumping into the Republican field on Saturday, there remain calls for other candidates to enter the contest. Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, who was considering entering the race himself, has been pushing for U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to enter the race. Daniels was on CSPAN on Thursday praising Ryan and saying he would seriously consider backing the Wisconsin congressman if he entered the race ... Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani continues to leave the door open to launching a second bid at the Republican presidential nomination. Giuliani said this week he would make a final decision about entering the 2012 contest by the end of September ... From his perch as the chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC), U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is remaining neutral for the moment and is not backing fellow Texan Perry. In a radio appearance on Thursday, Cornyn praised both Ryan and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie -- though he added that he had hoped Ryan would run for the U.S. Senate in 2012.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
