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Perry says debating was his biggest mistake
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Race
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| Contributor | TX DEM |
| Last Edited | TX DEM Oct 26, 2011 06:18pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Thursday, October 27, 2011 12:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Actually, his biggest mistake was saying that debating was his biggest mistake. It says so much about who Rick Perry is–unsure of himself and afraid to face the public except in situations he controls, and yet arrogant at the same time. Doesn’t he realize that refusing to debate would have been even worse than debating? Ducking debates sends the public a message that you do not think that their opinion matters and shows a lack of respect for the great quadrennial exercise of choosing a leader for the nation.
His comment on Fox News was, “All they’re interested in is stirring it up between the candidates instead of really talking about the issues that are important to the American people.” Damn right “they” are–”they” being the media. The value of stirring things up, of course, is that the public can see candidates in unscripted moments, as when Perry made his gaffe that people who don’t support the Dream Act “don’t have a heart.”
In his races in Texas, Perry could put the campaign engine in cruise control and leave it there. He could arrange things so that all his speeches were to friendly audiences. He could address the Realtors (as I heard him do) with full confidence that he would get a loud, enthusiastic ovation, and bask in the prearranged applause. He could surround himself with his security entourage, to ensure that he would not have to answer questions from impertinent reporters. He could refuse to visit with editorial boards and he could concoct phony excuses for refusing to debate, such as the failure of his 2010 Democratic opponent, former Houston mayor Bill White, to release his taxes. |
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