THE ASSAULT ON RICK PERRY – AT 10:51 A.M. ET:  The New York Times was running hit pieces on Rick Perry as soon as the Texas governor used "president" in a sentence.  Indeed, the northeast liberal press is in cultural shock over Perry, who reminds the tufu and herbal tea crowd of.....of.....BUSH (!!!).  It was Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry who became governor when Governor George W. Bush became president. 

This morning the Washington Post raises legitimate security concerns over a Chinese cyber firm that Perry welcomed to Texas.  The Perry campaign deflected the concerns by claiming Perry only cut a ribbon at a ceremony.  Not much of an answer.

It isn't, of course, only the liberal press that has its guns trained on Perry, to the extent that liberal journalists would own guns.  His GOP rivals will now make Perry their number one target, and it could get vicious between Perry and Mitt Romney.  And don't count out Michele Bachmann, who is emerging as a serious, vote-winning candidate who holds her own in a debate.

The attack on Perry from within the GOP will try to destroy Perry's record as a job creator in Texas.  Critics will point out that many of the jobs are low-paying, that many were automatically created by factors Perry had nothing to do with, like the oil industry and the military, which has a large presence in Texas, and that other social indicators in Texas are poor.  Texas lags in graduation rates and in numbers of citizens insured under health plans.  Perry has cut education budgets without improving education, the critics will say.

The charges will be serious, and Perry has got to be serious in answering them.  This election will be won in swing states like Ohio, and in states that normally tilt somewhat Democratic, like Pennsylvania.  Even if Perry gets the nomination, he will go into the general election with some wounds.  Yet, he has never lost an election.  We have fascinating months of hard-knuckle politics ahead of us.

The Washington Post also has a fair-minded piece today on the Perry style.  Consider:

“This isn’t a strategy just to go work in a few places, we’re gonna be all across this country,” he said at a house party organized by Pamela Tucker, Deputy House Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. “I feel right at home amongst people whose motto is ‘Live Free or Die,’ ” he said.

But tacitly acknowledging that what plays in South Carolina (and likely Iowa), won’t play here, Perry, 61, skipped the opening prayer from his announcement remarks, jumping right into his withering critique of President Obama’s tenure in front of a crowd of about 200 people.

Perry will be in Iowa today, too late for the Iowa debate and straw poll, which will get him some criticism from within the Iowa GOP.  We'll see how he handles himself.

August 14, 2011