Rick Perry is struggling. Polling at 16 percent nationally and at just nine percent in Iowa, Perry’s campaign is on the ropes. His performance at Tuesday’s primary debate in New Hampshire — for which he was criticized after failing to seize the moment — hardly helped.
Perry’s dramatic rise and fall mirrors that of another conservative superstar who’s lost her mojo — Sarah Palin.
Faced with similar hurdles, it’s little surprise Perry has started borrowing from Palin’s playbook. In an interview with the Des Moines Register yesterday, Perry blamed the mainstream media for intentionally portraying southern conservatives as racist, in response to a question about his controversially named hunting camp:
I think a lot of people get offended when the media elites try to paint everyone from the South who has a twang to their voice as somehow being racist. I’m very proud of my record dealing with not only that rock. When my family had the opportunity to paint over that word on the rock, we did it. I’m very proud of how we have dealt with the issue of racial diversity in the state of Texas, having appointed more qualified minorities than any governor in Texas history, including the first African-American to the Texas Supreme Court. That is a record I am very proud of, and will continue to do that as the president of the United States.
Lashing out at the press has been a routine tactic for Palin. Unfortunately for her, it hasn’t moved the needle an inch. Her standing among voters lags at a disappointing 32 percent, according to a PPP study conducted before she announced she wasn’t running for president.
Could pointing fingers at the media help Perry recover? Maybe this time will be different. But the tactic’s track record isn’t likely to inspire confidence in his supporters.
