Rick Perry May Forego Future Debates…Wonder why?...
Looks like Texas governor Rick Perry may be on the verge of trying to cut short his losses.
The former GOP frontrunner has been on a downward spiral in the polls pretty much since he first opened his mouth during a national debate.
So, his team appears to be reasoning that if he loses support each time he appears at a debate, then maybe there’s one pretty easy way to help: just don’t show up.
Typically candidates prefer not to take this route because it means missing out on the free publicity a TV debate provides. It can also risk looking cowardly. In conversation with Politico, though, Perry spokesman Mark Miner span it as a question of time management.
“I think all the campaigns are expressing frustration right now,” Miner told POLITICO. “We said we would do Michigan but the primaries are around the corner and you have to use your time accordingly.”
So does this mean we’ll be seeing less of Rick Perry after the GOP’s Michigan debate of November 15? Nah. He’ll likely use some of his $17 million war chest to make sure that we dosee him, and that when we do it’s in ads like this one, which hit the air in Iowa Wednesday morning
“Heavy on the ads, light on debates” is a strategy that’s worked for Perry before. In 2010’s Texas gubernatorial election, after a series of grueling primary debates, he simply decided toskip the general election ones. He claimed that was because his opponent wasn’t sufficiently forthcoming in his financial disclosures — an argument that opponent dismissed as “lame.”
It’s not just Perry’s aides talking up the prospect of doing a disappearing act. Perry himself seemed to be laying the groundwork for such a move during an interview with Bill O’Reilly on Tuesday night. Here’s what he told the talk show host:
“These debates are set up for nothing more than to tear down the candidates. It pretty hard to be able to sit and lay out your ideas and your concepts with a one minute response. So, you know, if there was a mistake made, it was probably ever doing one of the campaigns [debates] when all they’re interested in is stirring up between the candidates instead of really talking about the issues that are important to the American people.”
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