Flap’s Links and Comments for August 14th through August 15th

These are my links for August 14th through August 15th:

President 2012: Perry schools Bachmann in Waterloo – Rick Perry came to Michele Bachmann’s hometown Sunday evening and schooled the newly minted Iowa front-runner in her native state’s demanding retail political culture.
The day after Perry announced his candidacy and Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll, the two candidates spoke to the Black Hawk County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner, the sort of endless regional event that is a staple of the long Iowa campaign.

Both candidates offered conservative standards, promising to slash government spending and ease regulations to jump-start the private sector economy. Perry promised to use his presidential veto pen “until all ink runs out to get the message across that we’re not spending all the money.” Bachmann pledged to keep faith with evangelical Republicans.

The duo also went to great lengths to burnish their local credentials, with Bachmann celebrating her Waterloo roots repeatedly and Perry name-checking Iowa companies, recalling his own 4-H gold star status and Eagle Scout upbringing, and paying repeated respect to senior Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who maintains a hog farm nearby and was seated in the crowd.

But the contrast that may lift Perry and undermine Bachmann in their high stakes battle for Iowa had less to do with what they said than how they said it — and what they did before and after speaking.

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Read it all.

Rick Perry has more big time campaign experience than Bachmann having run for Governor of Texas (a very large state) three times.

Unless Perry makes a gaffe or something disqualifying comes out, Perry will overwhelm Bachmann and after Florida it will be Romney vs. Perry going into Super Tuesday.

Watch Rudy Giuliani and see if he endorses Perry early or late to get a sense of the direction of the Perry campaign.
President 2012: Bachmann-Perry Overdrive – The fight for the Republican Presidential nomination is finally getting underway in earnest, with Texas Governor Rick Perry bull-riding his way into the race and Michele Bachmann winning Saturday's straw poll in Iowa. Both events show how unsettled the GOP contest still is, as voters search for a candidate who can beat a vulnerable President Obama.
Mrs. Bachmann, the Minnesota Congresswoman, has emerged from cable-TV land in recent months to be a viable competitor. She is telegenic, a hard worker, and has planted herself at the front of the tea party parade in hostility to all things Washington. This posture matches the current public mood and helps to explain why she surpassed fellow Minnesotan Tim Pawlenty, who dropped out of the race yesterday despite a far better record of accomplishment as a fiscally conservative two-term Governor of a left-leaning state. Mrs. Bachmann is a canny politician.

At the same time, winning a straw poll of activists is a long way from persuading voters she has the experience and judgment to sit in the Oval Office. (Libertarian Ron Paul, who has no chance to win the nomination, finished a close second.) Mrs. Bachmann has a record of errant statements (see Battle of Lexington and Concord, history of) that are forgiven by Fox Nation but won't be if she makes them as a GOP standard-bearer.

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Read it all.

The GOP has a weak field but Obama will be weaker.

A Perry and Rubio ticket will probably be the strongest.
Flap’s California Morning Collection: August 15, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s California Morning Collection: August 15, 2011 #tcot #catcot
Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: August 15, 2011 – The Morning Drill: August 15, 2011
Day By Day August 15, 2011 – All the World’s a Stage | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day August 15, 2011 – All the World’s a Stage #tcot #catcot
@Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-15 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-15 #tcot #catcot
Pakistan lets China see US helicopter – FT.com – Pakistan lets China see US Stealth helicopter from Bin Laden Raid
Flap’s Links and Comments for August 14th on 12:49 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for August 14th on 12:49 #tcot #catcot