So I’ve been wanting to talk about the rivalry between Romney and Perry for some time now. I hesitated for fear that my blog would be too much of a Romney/Perry-fest. However, I think now is the perfect time to discuss it, given Perry’s slide down the slippery slope in the GOP race.
Let’s be honest, the jabber between the two was getting embarrassing for a while. I get that it’s competitive and you at times have to be pointed in order to show voters that you are the better candidate. However, when debates become catty and echo to a middle school girls’ locker room, voters have every right to lose respect for candidates.
Furthermore, if you ask me the GOP race is already a three-ring circus, so the catty banter not only hurts the candidates, but the party as a whole. You may be rivals but you also supposedly represent the same party and work towards to good of the same nation.
Obviously Romney is going to be the focus of much mudslinging given his consistent position at the top (until recently threatened by Gingrich), but every debate seems to get out of hand between what Washington Post referred to as “Technocrat Romney” and “Preacher Perry ”
PBS described the October 18th debate in Las Vegas as “combative” between the two candidates and predicted it was “a tone likely to stay with us for the next few months”.
They couldn’t have been more right and I believe that combative tone has played a role in Perry’s decreasing popularity. Although the two may have bantered consistently, Perry was always on the offense—rightfully so, seeing as he was behind Romney in the polls.
However, Perry’s blatantly caustic tone lost him the respect of the voters. Every post-debate feedback I’ve seen with audience members has always easily favored Romney. Why? Well people generally seem to think he handled his situation with grace as far as I can tell.
They knew he was under fire, they thought he responded well, and if the banter got out of hand or particularly childish…well Perry is the one that started it, right? If Perry’s attack’s had been more thought out and calculated I think he would have had more success.
Team Romney may have learned from Perry, as they have since removed any videos from their ‘counter-Perry’ site that mocked the Texas governor according to PBS. Politics is a dirty game for sure, and the public knows that. But they are quite particular about kind of dirty tactics you use—the subtler the better.
Now the nation not only sees ‘another Texas governor’ but they also see a child who get’s into belligerent little tantrums with the other candidates. I think this perception, paired with Perry’s views, and poor performance in recent debates (come on if you have three points, make sure you KNOW them all) has played a major role in Perry’s loss of popularity amongst GOP constituents.
I do have to give Romney props. As many articles have pointed out this week, he has gave little attention to his GOP rivals and continued to focus on Obama. That is a smart tactic because he avoids the risk of falling down Perry’s trail, he encourages a more unified GOP and he keeps the nations focus right where he wants it: the presidential election.
From Romney’s stance, in November of 2012, the publics’ options will only be he and the president. He’s exuding a confidence that isn’t overbearing and constantly reminding the NATION that he is what they need, not a PARTY.
According to an early New Hampshire poll released this morning, Romney leads Obama…so maybe the president shouldn’t relax and watch the circus. But that’s for another blog.
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