What Are The Best And Worst Case Scenarios For Rick Perry Now?

[TexasTowelie]

Rick Perry could still rise from the ashes like a phoenix. His 2012 campaign was disastrous for three reasons we won’t bother recapping here, but when he re-entered the arena as a candidate for the GOP nomination in 2016, he displayed a combination of self-awareness and surprising thoughtfulness that told us more about his political makeover than a million pairs of hipster eyeglasses ever could. His image rehab was proceeding apace, and he even managed to recover from early stumbles — not to mention his indictment — well enough to raise a more-than-respectable $17 million in his first fundraising report.

But none of that was enough to get him into the first major debate of the 2016 campaign season (yes, it’s the 2016 campaign season now). The GOP field is crowded, and Fox News, the sponsor of the debate, opted for a European soccer-style system of relegation and promotion to determine which of the seventeen candidates would be debating in primetime, and who would be making their case at a second-tier debate. And when the news came down Tuesday, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and John Kasich made the A-team.

Losing out to Kasich — the Ohio governor whose personal charisma is, shall we say, less than striking — is a low point for a candidate who has seen many previous nadirs. At the same time, though, if there’s a Republican candidate who can benefit from spending some time in the D-League, it’s Perry. If he is ready to make a run in his 2016 campaign, then practicing on a stage alongside not-ready-for-primetime-players such as Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Lindsay Graham, Jim Gilmore, and George Pataki is a great opportunity. Perry is going to need to impress people in order to successfully complete a rehabilitation of his image, and it’s easier to impress people when you’re standing next to a band of political misfits. With that in mind, here’s the best and worst case scenarios for the Perry campaign.

Best Case Scenario: By the time delegates actually start getting assigned, Perry’s still hanging around, and the fact that he didn’t even qualify for the first debate becomes another part of his underdog narrative. It’s the sort of detail that makes scrappy Rick Perry a surprise success story in the campaign. If the race in the spring is between, say, Bush, Rubio, Paul, Christie, and Perry, he’s got a path to victory — a more compelling narrative than Jeb Bush, a stronger record than Rubio or Paul, and broader Republican appeal than Christie.

Read more: http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/what-are-the-best-and-worst-case-scenarios-for-rick-perry-now/

[Warpy]

1. The best case for him now is retirement

and the rest of his life in bars, telling people what a big shot he used to be. It's hard to think of anything else he'd be particularly good at. It's also the best case for Texas and the country.

Perry's crap has never sold outside Texas. He's got a lot of company in that regard, Texans just can't seem to realize that the rest of the country isn't automatically in love with them or their state or their whole urban cowboy shtik.

The worst case is if Texans elect the stupid sumbish to something else.

[olddots]

2. I was suprised he wasn't the last repukian candidate

He looks like the perfect puppet so he may stick around for a while unless their game is so fixed none of us can figure it out .

[Scootaloo]

3. Best Case: he falls into a very deep hole. Worst case: He doesn't. n/t

[freshwest]

4. He needs to retire. His pension and investments will keep him going the rest of his life. Too bad

*The Hair* didn't help him succeed, but you need something under it than air.

While Texas jumped from the frying pan into the BBQ pit when Dubya left his lackey in charge, it's jumped into a bonfire with Batshit Abbott.

I no longer recognize the place. It's not just 'A whole 'nother country' it's a whole 'nother era, like going back to the dark ages of Europe.