From the Huffington Post’s Jon Ward:
Romney advisers also want to give Perry plenty of rope with which to hang himself in the three debates coming in September. The Romney camp believes that Perry’s penchant for talking off the cuff could cause a meltdown, so they see no need to rush toward a confrontation.
“We went through Hurricane Palin and Hurricane Huckabee and Hurricane Trump,” the Romney adviser said, referring to the bright light celebrity names that stoked interest earlier this year: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and businessman Donald Trump.
Referring to Perry, the adviser said: “This is just one more hurricane, but I think we’re at the end of hurricane season.”
Full piece here. Another interesting tidbit is Ward’s observation that even if Perry races ahead in the national polls for the time being, as long as he remains significantly behind Romney in New Hampshire, the campaign has the New Hampshire results to rely on. If that switches — and Perry starts leading in Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire –the Romney campaign may not be so comfortable with not attacking Perry directly.