Not precisely uppity

Rick Perry doesn’t like the leftward tilt of this country and he’s here to change things. There are no specifics in what he wants — unless you call this specific.

His campaign pitch, should he decide to run, would be rooted in an equal measure of inspiring economic growth and preserving social values. He did not mention that Texas ranks near the bottom on several measures, including among the lowest in education funding per student and spending on the environment. But he sought to highlight legislative accomplishments like requiring voters to have ID cards. …NYT

His “pitch” is mostly against Obama and the Obama administration, which he describes and “audacious” and “arrogant.” As noted: not precisely “uppity.” Rick Perry is not precisely like George W. Bush either but — damn! — he looks like him, doesn’t he!

NYT/Getty

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Perry got a lot of attention yesterday in New Orleans, but not all the attention.

Perry’s speech to an annual gathering of Republican Party faithful Saturday was overshadowed by the performance of a President Obama impersonator who was pulled off the stage after delivering a string of racially tinged jokes. …

… Charlie Davis, president of the Republican Leadership Conference, said that he pulled Brown off the stage because he had gone too far in an otherwise successful conference.

“He was funny the first 10 or 15 minutes,” Davis said, “but it was inappropriate, it was getting ridiculous. ...WaPo

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Polls show Republicans aren’t really pro-Perry — or pro-anything. Just sort-of pro…

A CNN poll released Friday found that 40 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents would like Perry to run, but 50 percent prefer he stay on the sidelines. Slightly more, 48 percent, said they would like to see Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) enter the contest. When asked about the current contenders, 61 percent say they are at least fairly satisfied with the Republican candidates running for president, but only 16 percent are very satisfied. …WaPo

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The Texas Tribune takes an upclose look at Perry and finds his numbers steady and not high, in spite of perception. And Obama’s numbers are almost as good as those of “Governor Good-Hair” in the state of Texas.

Likely voters in Texas approve of President Barack Obama almost as much as they approve of Gov. Rick Perry, according to the third and final release of poll results from the Texas Lyceum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of civic leaders.

Since October, when the last Lyceum survey was conducted, Perry’s approval rating has remained steady at 54 percent, while Obama’s has increased from 47 to 51 percent.

Texans liked that Navy Seals operation in particular. But for Obama to remain steadily in the upper 40’s is pretty revealing … of the gap between actuality, on the one hand, and media analysis on the other.

Cross posted from the blog Prairie Weather.

EDITOR’s NOTE: Due to a technical glitch, this was up on TMV for about 40 seconds under the wrong byline. We regret the technical problem, which was fixed quickly.