Rick Perry has little reason for caution at this point. He’s at less than 2 percent nationally in the RealClearPolitics average. The same measuring stick puts him at 1.3 percent in Iowa, 1 percent in New Hampshire, and 1.5 percent in South Carolina.
Speaking at the Americans for Prosperity Defending the American Dream Summit in Columbus, Ohio Saturday, Perry let fly with not-so-veiled shots at the rest of the field.
“Will we nominate a candidate who says the right thing, or a candidate who has a record of doing the right thing?” Perry said, appearing to not-so-subtly target the candidates who haven’t served in office before – Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump. “You don’t have to rely on the rhetoric, you can check the record!”
There is some indication that Perry himself is getting “Trump-ified”, to use a phrase campaigns abhor. If that term seems too objectionable, let’s just observe the candidates are getting blunter in their language, louder and more emotional in their tone, more cutting in the criticism.
Denouncing Washington’s lobbying culture and the “K-Street Corridor” as “trickle-down liberalism,” Perry punctuated his denunciation with, “Americans are getting the shaft! I am mad as hell about it, and I am going to Washington to do something about it!”
Perry also took some shots at Trump, although he didn’t mention the front-runner by name. Perry said, “Some candidates offer simplistic solutions like ‘build a wall.’ A wall is only secure if it’s enforced by manpower. Boots on the ground are the key!” (Trump did call for tripling the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.)
Perry attempted to preemptively dismiss any praise for Trump’s forthcoming debate performances by urging the audience to prioritize actions over speaking charisma.
“I’ll admit, I am not the best talker in this race,” Perry said to chuckles from the audience. “I mangle words. I’ve been known to lose my train of thought from time to time,” getting bigger laughs from the audience, remembering his debate performance from 2012.
“But I’ve never forgotten where I came from and what I believe. I’ve never forgotten the importance of hard work, the value of a dollar, and the importance of family.” He contended that Texas had demonstrated the truth that “limited government leads to unlimited opportunity.”
Perry also took a hard shot at Ohio governor John Kasich’s decision to accept federal funding to expand the number of state residents who could qualify for Medicaid.
“For those who expand Medicaid, claiming it’s a state reclaim their share of federal dollars – that begs the question, what about our children’s share of the national debt! Justifying Medicaid expansion requires you to be blind to the fact that we are 18 trillion dollars in debt!”