Over the weekend TPM’s Evan McMorris-Santoro was on the trail of Rick Perry as he stumped through South Carolina. The following observations of the Texas governor in action reveal much about the political force that’s currently shaking up the 2012 campaign.
GREENVILLE, SC — Remember that Texas presidential swagger? The super-sincere handshakes, the thumbs up everywhere, the short, broski-style answers and genuine charm?
Yeah, it’s exactly how you remember it.
For about 30 minutes Friday evening, Texas Gov. Rick Perry walked among the good people on Main St. here, stopping to exchange a few words when his staffers pointed someone out he should meet and — for one brief moment — shaking hands and giving thumbs up to the staff of a hookah bar a couple blocks from City Hall. He also pet dogs. A lot of dogs. Perry likes dogs.
Perry’s host Friday was Greenville Mayor Knox White, who told reporters afterwards he welcomes any candidate to Greenville. But today he was Perry’s grinning companion, walking along with him and his wife and daughter as they did the kind of let-me-interrupt-your-converstation-for-a-moment retail-style politicking that is the hallmark of the early presidential primary states.
A snippet of what that sounded like:
“Go get ’em,” one man said to Perry.
“Yes, sir,” he replied. “Roger.”
There were signs that this wasn’t a completely accurate depiction of downtown Greenville on a given Friday evening. Save for a scattering of protesters who were kept at a safe distance, everyone Perry ran into here really liked him — or had some kind of personal connection to him, like having attended his alma mater Texas A&M, having once lived in Texas or having known someone from his family.
This is not to say that people in Greenville don’t genuinely love Perry. After Perry’s bus had driven off, a self-proclaimed “business conservative” approached me and another reporter to ask if Perry was still around. He explained that he was not a religious conservative and, surprisingly, that was why he supported Perry. Mitt Romney would normally be his guy, the man said, but then explained that Romney didn’t have the conservative credentials needed to win. Electability favors Perry, the man said.
Anyway, back to the Perry tour.
To another couple, who sat with their dog at an outside cafe:
“I learned a long time ago: if you love dogs, generally the dog’s owners will love you,” Perry said to laughter as he crouched down and played with the pooch. If the couple’s beaming smiles and one of them saying “Hello, Mr. President,” to Perry were any indication, Perry was right about that particular political anecdote.
Perhaps the most incredible moment was when a young man approached Perry and handed him his cellphone. On the other end, the man explained, was his wife who was going into labor at literally that very moment. He was on the way to pick her up but wanted her to talk to Perry first.
“Hello, Crista, how are you doing?” Perry said into the phone.
“She said ‘come NOW,” Perry told the man. Then back into the phone: “This is Rick Perry, hopefully your next president, but you take care of yourself — but, ok — NOW, got it. Come NOW.”
The man went.
Perry didn’t take any questions from the press — just as he hasn’t for his whole South Carolina tour — and he appeared to actively try to avoid a repeat of a couple days ago in New Hampshire, when a kid (prompted by his mom) got Perry into a discussion of evolution that’s become controversial.
One red-haired teen followed Perry for a few minutes, politely and repeatedly asking him to answer a question. Perry ignored him and headed into The Hotdog King, following White. Inside he signed a guy’s old Texas license plate.
The teen stormed off, ripping the Perry For President sign he held in half as he fled the restaurant full of Perry fans.
Get the day’s best political analysis, news and reporting from the TPM team delivered to your inbox every day with DayBreaker. Sign up here, it takes just a few seconds.
