Perry Vaults to Frontrunner Status in South Carolina

[cali]

* By David M. Drucker
* Roll Call Staff
* Aug. 23, 2011, 12:07 a.m.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has grabbed frontrunner status in South Carolina, ending several months of what had been a muddled race in this key Republican presidential primary state.

Perry launched his campaign just over a week ago in Charleston, electrifying South Carolina conservatives who have been hungering for a candidate with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann’s fire who they also deem electable and experienced. And while Republicans in the Palmetto State caution that Perry has months of vetting ahead of him and that the contest is still up for grabs, there is a general consensus that the late-entering Texas governor has the inside track.

“Perry has definitely been a game-changer,” said Barry Wynn, a Spartanburg businessman and former state GOP chairman who is aligned with Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). “I think voters here had their heads telling them to be for Romney but their hearts were somewhere else. Now they can get their head and heart at the same point, and that creates more passion and energy.”

Following Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s surprise exit from the presidential race in late April, the contest had lacked a natural frontrunner capable of exciting South Carolina’s conservative though philosophically diverse Republican electorate. Perry, a Southern governor with a conservative record and personal charisma, has filled that void, at least in the short term.

<snip>

http://www.rollcall.com/news/rick_perry_vaults_frontrunner_status_south_carolina-208263-1.html?pos=hftxt

[duhneece]

1. It's peculiar that I resent a man vaulting ahead of the woman contender

And then I remember that the woman is Bachman (Or Palin) and just get dizzy with apparent conflict.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Just take a breath and relax.

This year the primaries are a spectator sport for we Democrats. Look at it this way, considering the players, we're assured one hell of a blooper reel!

[duhneece]

7. Thanks, sometimes I need a reminder

I was conflicted for sure!

[Pirate Smile]

2. He took the lead in Iowa also.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/ppp-iowa-becoming-perry-country-as-bachmann-falls.php

PPP: Iowa Becoming Perry Country As Bachmann Falls

As TPM reported Tuesday morning, Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-MN) time as a legitimate contender for the GOP presidential nomination could be up, as a new survey from Public Policy Polling (D) shows her the third choice of Republican voters in Iowa, a state essential to her campaign. The new horserace with the full announced GOP field shows Tex. Gov. Rick Perry at the top with 22 percent, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney at 19 percent, Bachmann at 18, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) at 16 percent.

There's no way around it -- Bachmann's popularity has taken a huge hit over the last two months, as shown by the PPP numbers. In June, Bachmann enjoyed a favorable/unfavorable rating of 53 - 16. That statistic is now 47 - 35, still positive, but not particularly high considering these are GOP voters. Perry, on the other hand, has gone from relatively unknown (a 21 - 16 favorability rating in June, majority undecided) to well liked, with a 56 - 24 rating. Paul has increased his favorability rating by 11 points over that time, and Romney has dropped slightly over the last two months.

In a three way race between Bachmann, Perry and Romney, the Minnesota Rep. comes in third again, at 24 percent, behind Perry at 34 and Romney at 28. This adheres to other evidence that Bachmann is sinking within the field, as last week saw the release of a Rasmussen national survey of GOP voters, in which Perry charged to the top at 29 percent and Bachmann was relegated to third at 13.

[Andy823]

3. Well...

It doesn't say much for the conservatives in SC. Perry is after the "crazy" vote, need I say more?

[struggle4progress]

5. As James Petigru famously said at the time of secession: "South Carolina is too small to be

a republic and too large to be an insane asylum"

[gulliver]

6. The Tea Party is handing Obama a second term.

We need the GOP's id on display. A Tea Party favorite whose every gesture screams George W. Bush? Fine.

The Tea Party wants to tell everyone it ordered the Code Red. I say we let it.

[ladjf]

8. South Carolina led the way into the civil war. Now they want the

religious dominionists to take over. nt

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

9. Is there any polling behind this? Didn't see any in the article, not that I doubt the headline.