After Texas Governor Rick Perry’s announcement on Saturday he has hit the ground running. He arguably took some of the shine off of Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s Ames Straw Poll win by (arguably) upstaging her in her own hometown. He leads the latest national poll done by Rasmussen (which means very little at this point however, but it’s still an eye opener) at 29%, 11 points ahead of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney who polled second with 18%, and 16 points ahead of Bachmann. He also stepped in it saying if Fed Chair Ben Bernanke printed more money that it would be “almost treasonous.” This earned him a rebuke from former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum who tweeted, “Perry’s comments about Bernanke are disappointing & out of bounds. Bernanke’s policies are wrong for America, but it doesn’t make him treasonous. Just wrong.”
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who replaced him as chair of the Republican Governor’s Association said, "I thought the remarks probably were something that could have been said differently."
He also came out swinging, the L.A. Times reports the way he is providing some contrast between himself and Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann:
Rick Perry opened an aggressive new front in the Republican campaign for president Monday, suggesting that Mitt Romney could not match his record on job creation and questioning whether Michele Bachmann had the experience to be president. Romney sought to stay above the fray in New Hampshire but touted his "real world" experience in the private sector as a key credential for the White House.
The crossfire between the Texas governor and his chief rivals came as the three top-tier candidates fanned out across the early caucus and primary states — with Perry in Iowa, Romney in New Hampshire and Bachmann preparing for a bus tour in South Carolina.
He seems to be committed to being in Iowa often, and I’ve talked with numerous people who are extremely interested in his campaign. He’s certainly shaken up the field as far as Iowa is concerned, and that has to have Bachmann and Romney quite worried.
Photo by Dave Davidson