Rick Perry files lawsuit against everything he stands for

[JollyRoger]

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign said on Tuesday that it is filing a lawsuit to get on the ballot in the Virginia primary election after state officials announced last week that he failed to turn in the requisite 10,000 signatures.

"Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous and are particularly problematic in a multicandidate election,” said Perry campaign Communications Director Ray Sullivan in a statement. “We believe that the Virginia provisions unconstitutionally restrict the rights of candidates and voters by severely restricting access to the ballot, and we hope to have those provisions overturned or modified to provide greater ballot access to Virginia voters and the candidates seeking to earn their support."

http://nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/perry-campaign-sues-to-get-on-virginia-ballot-20111227

So here is a guy that for years has been:

1. Tightening access to the courts;
2. Railing against activist judges;
3. Tightening access to the ballot box;
4. Proudly proclaiming state rights; and,
5. Emphasizing pulling one up by one's bootstraps;

Who is

1. Going to court;
2. Looking for a activist judge;
3. Asking for easier ballott access;
4. By having a Federal Judge overturn state laws and party rules;
5. To make up for Perry not pulling hard enough on his bootstraps.

Newt has already claimed Pearl Harbor for this mess. Perhaps this is Perry's Alamo.

 

[Cutlass]

Rules only apply to other people.

 

[JohnRM]

When you place near dead last, in every single available poll, well behind even Ron Paul, it may just be time to give up. Stop blaming ballot law and start considering that you might just be an unappealing candidate and try to figure out why.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Would you say he's now worth voting for, Jolly?

 

[JollyRoger]

Would you say he's now worth voting for, Jolly?

Not until Fox puts a "D'" next to his name in a graphic - so I guess it's just a matter of time

 

[NickyJ]

Perhaps this is Perry's Alamo.

Not quite as good as the 'signature clause' line, but still pretty good.

 

[Murky]

Texas must be a totally screwed up state to have elected such a loser.

 

[madviking]

I, for one, enjoy the Commontrollwealth of Virginia.

 

[Antilogic]

So here is a guy that for years has been:

1. Tightening access to the courts;
2. Railing against activist judges;
3. Tightening access to the ballot box;
4. Proudly proclaiming state rights; and,
5. Emphasizing pulling one up by one's bootstraps;

Who is

1. Going to court;
2. Looking for a activist judge;
3. Asking for easier ballott access;
4. By having a Federal Judge overturn state laws and party rules;
5. To make up for Perry not pulling hard enough on his bootstraps.

Newt has already claimed Pearl Harbor for this mess. Perhaps this is Perry's Alamo.

Oh irony of ironies. Excellent summary.

 

[IglooDame]

I think the general public (or the Republican likely-primary-voting public, anyway) took a good look at Perry and decided he was too similar to GW Bush and decided they didn't need THAT again.

 

[Cutlass]

There's that. But I don't think you can discount the fact that he's just presented himself remarkably poorly for a politician of his stature and experience in the debates and public appearances.

 

[Azale]

Texas must be a totally screwed up state to have elected such a loser.

The Democratic Party is like bigfoot around here. There have been rumors and whispers for years that it exists, but no real proof.

 

[IglooDame]

I think the general public (or the Republican likely-primary-voting public, anyway) took a good look at Perry and decided he was too similar to GW Bush and decided they didn't need THAT again.

There's that. But I don't think you can discount the fact that he's just presented himself remarkably poorly for a politician of his stature and experience in the debates and public appearances.

I thought that presenting himself remarkably poorly in debates and public appearances was one of the similarities with Bush the Younger.

 

[Azale]

I thought that presenting himself remarkably poorly in debates and public appearances was one of the similarities with Bush the Younger.

Bush Jr was not nearly as inept in debates and public appearances as Perry has been so far. He projected a warm ignorance, not this embarrassing idiocy. Perry never had to deal with these types of things ("debates" "public appearances") from his high castle in Austin, so it's not surprising that he is faltering.

 

[Cutlass]

I thought that presenting himself remarkably poorly in debates and public appearances was one of the similarities with Bush the Younger.

Not that I recall. Granted it has been 7 years since he last ran for office, so maybe I misremember. But if GW wasn't the most articulate at speaking off the cuff, he generally wasn't an embarrassment in things that he had prepared himself for (or been prepared by his handlers for). He didn't get blown off the stage by Gore or Kerry (granted neither of those guys are great public speakers either). IIRC, GW was at least average. Perry has been well below that.

 

[JollyRoger]

I hope Canada doesn't secede:

“Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil that we don’t have to buy from a foreign source,” Mr. Perry said in Clarinda, earning a loud round of enthusiastic applause.

Later, the audience reacted again to Mr. Perry’s assertion that buying so much energy from foreign countries is “not good policy, it’s not good politics and frankly it’s un-American.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/what-moves-republican-crowds-in-iowa/?smid=tw-thecaucus&seid=auto

 

[Ayatollah So]

Jolly, you are well-named. You always brighten my day

When you place near dead last, in every single available poll, well behind even Ron Paul, it may just be time to give up.

Please Flying Spaghetti Monster, let it be so. Let Perry join Cain in the dustbin of 2012, and let the Republican wing of the Republican Party coalesce around one not-Romney, if only by default.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Not that I recall. Granted it has been 7 years since he last ran for office, so maybe I misremember. But if GW wasn't the most articulate at speaking off the cuff, he generally wasn't an embarrassment in things that he had prepared himself for (or been prepared by his handlers for). He didn't get blown off the stage by Gore or Kerry (granted neither of those guys are great public speakers either). IIRC, GW was at least average. Perry has been well below that.

As I recall he actually tended to have a better memory of the more technical parts of his platform than did his competition. I specifically remember him explaining how Al Gore's tax plan would indeed cut taxes slightly for those who submit a short form tax return but would raise them more significantly for anyone submitting a long form tax return, and how this would be especially bad for those small businesses organized as S Corporations. I remember some pundits right after the debate saying that he performed poorly and should have tried appealing to the emotions of the crowd rather than dwelling on technical details, but my father (CPA whose clients were mostly S Corporations) thought that his best performance.

 

[Theov]

Maybe we should bring some 'democracy' to the USA.

 

[Quackers]

Rick Perry is a true American. Any criticism against this great man should frankly be considered: un-American.