Hellooooo, 2016. Texas governor Rick Perry is back to the Hawkeye state for a Polk County GOP fundraising dinner November 7, reports the Des Moines Register.
Earlier this month, I talked to Bob Vander Plaats, a top GOP evangelical in the state and president and CEO of The Family Leader, about Perry. “I think Iowans would definitely give him a second chance,” Vander Plaats says.
“I think a lot of people know that he had the back surgery” and was on painkiller drugs, Vander Plaats adds. “I don’t know what you’re [Perry] doing anyway,” he comments. “If you can’t drive a car, you probably shouldn’t run for president,” he says of Perry. But Texas’ success in recent years remains a “great story” — and despite his failed run, Perry could still appeal to Iowans.