Perry funds dry up after gaffes and dip in polls
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:07 pm
by Richard Dunham in Campaign 2012, Fundraising, Gov. Rick Perry
By Richard S. Dunham Houston Chronicle/Hearst Washington Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign fundraising has gone into a tailspin as a result of poor debate performances and plunging poll numbers, jeopardizing his position as the best-funded Republican presidential candidate of 2012.
Perry's associates and supporters say his campaign has redoubled its money-raising efforts in the past week to ensure that his campaign will have enough money to survive the first three contests of the 2012 election calendar: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
But Perry's loyal backers are running into resistance from Republican donors. One Perry fundraiser, who asked not to be named, said he received 15 RSVPs for a recent event from potential donors saying they might attend. But after a gaffe-marred Perry debate performance, none showed up....
snip...
http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/11/perry-funds-dry-up-after-gaffes-and-dip-in-polls/
The real reason why Perry wouldn't debate Bill White?
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 10:12 pm
by Dana Thompson in Campaign 2012, Gov. Rick Perry
By Lisa Falkenburg Chronicle columnist
Making his way through Bush Intercontinental earlier this week, former Houston Mayor Bill White says he was stopped by three different people who wanted to tell him the same thing: They now understand why Rick Perry wouldn't debate him in last year's race for governor.
White says it's become typical commentary in conversations with people around town, ever since Texans got a look at the governor on the national stage, and especially at his fumbling, bumbling, "oops" moments on the debate stage.
"I think people now realize more the dangers of the scripted candidate," White told me Wednesday.
White, who is working on a book about the federal debt, says he doesn't look back too often at his failed campaign to unseat Perry. And he isn't sure the outcome of the election would have been different if Perry had agreed to debate.
But White knows this: Texans everywhere are seeing a side of Perry they've never seen, a side unscripted. He says Perry has long run from accountability, whether in the form of debates, editorial board meetings or regular press conferences.
And now we know why: Perry has never really known the answers, he just memorized what polls and advisers told him the answers were.
"People are susceptible to brain freezes when they've memorized plans and stump speeches," White told me. "You don't forget the things that are at the heart of why you're running for president."
Silly ultimatums
Many of us have known for a long time why Perry avoided White's debate invitations. We've known ever since the governor started issuing his silly school-yard ultimatums as conditions for facing White on stage. Perry demanded White release his income taxes, and when White did release them, Perry demanded more, dating back to White's days as Democratic Party chair and U.S. deputy energy secretary.
Perry maintained that he was "eager" to debate the popular three-term mayor, as he had debated previous opponents in statewide campaigns, and insisted that White's refusal to keep acquiescing to Perry's demands was in "staunch opposition to transparency."
"It's not about this good ol' fighting Texas Aggie being afraid to [engage] that Harvard boy," Perry told The Dallas Morning News. "That's not what it's about at all."
It now seems that's exactly what it was about. Rather than face his Democratic opponent on the issues and let voters observe in real time his thought processes, knowledge and instincts, Perry hid behind prepared statements, friendly crowds and slick TV advertisements.
White says he doesn't feel anger or frustration when he watches the governor debate. Only embarrassment.
"I am Texan to the bone and I love this state and the people here," White said. "Texas is a diverse state with folks who are proud of both their traditions and their modern, dynamic, educated Texas of the future. It's embarrassing when our governor struggles past the memorized script."
White says he returned home in time to catch only the end of the Nov. 9 debate, but quickly saw a replay of the "oops" moment in which Perry, after an excruciating 53 seconds, failed to remember that it's the U.S. Department of Energy he wanted to cut.
Knowledge required
It's perhaps a bit ironic that White served as deputy energy secretary under President Bill Clinton. White said Perry's plan to simply eliminate the agency shows his ignorance of federal government better than any momentary brain-lock.
"The biggest part of that budget was the maintenance of nuclear weapons, the cleanup of nuclear waste and related research," functions that had been privatized since World War II, White said. "That's not something that can be done by volunteers."
White pointed out that he actually cut the department's budget by about $1.5 billion amid Clinton-era debt-reduction efforts.
"Balancing the budget by making government more efficient requires knowledge of what the government does," White said. "Somebody who doesn't know what the government does can't remember the names of its departments."
http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/11/the-real-reason-why-perry-wouldn%e2%80%99t-debate-bill-white/
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 11:07 pm
by Richard Dunham in Campaign 2012, Fundraising, Gov. Rick Perry
By Richard S. Dunham Houston Chronicle/Hearst Washington Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign fundraising has gone into a tailspin as a result of poor debate performances and plunging poll numbers, jeopardizing his position as the best-funded Republican presidential candidate of 2012.
Perry's associates and supporters say his campaign has redoubled its money-raising efforts in the past week to ensure that his campaign will have enough money to survive the first three contests of the 2012 election calendar: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
But Perry's loyal backers are running into resistance from Republican donors. One Perry fundraiser, who asked not to be named, said he received 15 RSVPs for a recent event from potential donors saying they might attend. But after a gaffe-marred Perry debate performance, none showed up....
snip...
http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/11/perry-funds-dry-up-after-gaffes-and-dip-in-polls/
The real reason why Perry wouldn't debate Bill White?
Posted on November 16, 2011 at 10:12 pm
by Dana Thompson in Campaign 2012, Gov. Rick Perry
By Lisa Falkenburg Chronicle columnist
Making his way through Bush Intercontinental earlier this week, former Houston Mayor Bill White says he was stopped by three different people who wanted to tell him the same thing: They now understand why Rick Perry wouldn't debate him in last year's race for governor.
White says it's become typical commentary in conversations with people around town, ever since Texans got a look at the governor on the national stage, and especially at his fumbling, bumbling, "oops" moments on the debate stage.
"I think people now realize more the dangers of the scripted candidate," White told me Wednesday.
White, who is working on a book about the federal debt, says he doesn't look back too often at his failed campaign to unseat Perry. And he isn't sure the outcome of the election would have been different if Perry had agreed to debate.
But White knows this: Texans everywhere are seeing a side of Perry they've never seen, a side unscripted. He says Perry has long run from accountability, whether in the form of debates, editorial board meetings or regular press conferences.
And now we know why: Perry has never really known the answers, he just memorized what polls and advisers told him the answers were.
"People are susceptible to brain freezes when they've memorized plans and stump speeches," White told me. "You don't forget the things that are at the heart of why you're running for president."
Silly ultimatums
Many of us have known for a long time why Perry avoided White's debate invitations. We've known ever since the governor started issuing his silly school-yard ultimatums as conditions for facing White on stage. Perry demanded White release his income taxes, and when White did release them, Perry demanded more, dating back to White's days as Democratic Party chair and U.S. deputy energy secretary.
Perry maintained that he was "eager" to debate the popular three-term mayor, as he had debated previous opponents in statewide campaigns, and insisted that White's refusal to keep acquiescing to Perry's demands was in "staunch opposition to transparency."
"It's not about this good ol' fighting Texas Aggie being afraid to [engage] that Harvard boy," Perry told The Dallas Morning News. "That's not what it's about at all."
It now seems that's exactly what it was about. Rather than face his Democratic opponent on the issues and let voters observe in real time his thought processes, knowledge and instincts, Perry hid behind prepared statements, friendly crowds and slick TV advertisements.
White says he doesn't feel anger or frustration when he watches the governor debate. Only embarrassment.
"I am Texan to the bone and I love this state and the people here," White said. "Texas is a diverse state with folks who are proud of both their traditions and their modern, dynamic, educated Texas of the future. It's embarrassing when our governor struggles past the memorized script."
White says he returned home in time to catch only the end of the Nov. 9 debate, but quickly saw a replay of the "oops" moment in which Perry, after an excruciating 53 seconds, failed to remember that it's the U.S. Department of Energy he wanted to cut.
Knowledge required
It's perhaps a bit ironic that White served as deputy energy secretary under President Bill Clinton. White said Perry's plan to simply eliminate the agency shows his ignorance of federal government better than any momentary brain-lock.
"The biggest part of that budget was the maintenance of nuclear weapons, the cleanup of nuclear waste and related research," functions that had been privatized since World War II, White said. "That's not something that can be done by volunteers."
White pointed out that he actually cut the department's budget by about $1.5 billion amid Clinton-era debt-reduction efforts.
"Balancing the budget by making government more efficient requires knowledge of what the government does," White said. "Somebody who doesn't know what the government does can't remember the names of its departments."
http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/11/the-real-reason-why-perry-wouldn%e2%80%99t-debate-bill-white/
