Colleen
McCain Nelson
Rick Perry’s presidential campaign has been defined by bloopers. After tripping
over himself and torpedoing his own prospects, our gaffe-prone governor now has
a chance to do one thing gracefully: exit.
Call
a halt to this clumsy campaign. Cancel the ego trip to South Carolina. Use the money left in the
bank to repay Texas
taxpayers for their trouble. Get back to the business of governing this state.
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| dallasmorningnews |
Perry
appeared poised to do the right thing Tuesday night in Iowa. He emerged from the caucuses as an
also-ran and an afterthought. He spent millions to amass a paltry 12,604 votes,
and an emotional Perry wisely said he was heading home to reassess his
political future.
That’s
candidate-speak for “I’m outta here.”
But
12 hours and one tweet later, Perry was back in. That was news to a number of
Perry aides, who learned of their boss’ decision from Twitter and perplexed
reporters. At this point, it’s par for the course in Perry’s maladroit
operation.
Clearly,
the governor is at a loss after suffering his first-ever election loss. He
mistakenly believes that he can catapult from fifth to serious contender and
become the anti-Romney candidate of choice. But Rick Santorum already has dibs
on that role, and Newt Gingrich is available as backup. Both left Iowa with more momentum
and better prospects than Perry.
Now,
the Texas
governor is buoyed only by the fact that he still has campaign funds available,
but Perry should not confuse cash with credibility.
He
has fallen from first to among the worst. The best move Perry can make to
salvage some of his political legacy is to return to the comfy confines of Texas.
Tell
the rest of the country that the Lone
Star State
needs its governor. Quickly demonstrate that lessons have been learned from
this madcap misadventure on the big stage.
Perry
has at least three years left at the helm of state government. (I always allow
for the possibility that he could be governor forever.) If he wants to make
them count, he should start now.
First,
become a Texas
resident again. Perry’s been absent for some or all of 105 days since August.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has been busy with his own campaign for the U.S. Senate
and has taken a few trips as well.
For
15 days, Texas
has been governed by Mike Jackson.
Who?
I’m
sure that the semi-obscure state senator from the Houston area is a swell guy, but voters
didn’t elect him to lead our state. Jackson
is also pretty busy with his own construction company.
Texas could use a full-time
governor. Perry is being paid to do the job anyway, so it would be nice if he’d
show up.
Next,
get serious about a policy agenda. The big leagues exposed Perry as awfully
short on details and possessing only a shallow understanding of complex issues.
This
year affords him the opportunity to develop a legislative to-do list for 2013
and to immerse himself in the intricacies of policies.
Finally,
pay Texas
back. Perry’s presidential bid has been a pricey proposition for taxpayers.
His
state-provided security detail has cost as much as $400,000 per month as he’s
crisscrossed the country. Perry could rebuild some goodwill by reimbursing this
cash-strapped state instead of pouring more money into a losing effort in South Carolina.
Perry
always has portrayed himself as a somewhat reluctant presidential aspirant. He
said Tuesday night that this was not a lifelong ambition but simply a response
to the fact that the country was in trouble.
Voters
sent a clear message to the top Texan: He’s not the guy to fix it.
If
he presses on, Perry risks adding to his cringe-worthy reel of Saturday Night Live spoofs. If he bows out now, he has a
chance to put his political career back together in the state where he remains
undefeated.
Governor,
exit stage right and come home to Texas.
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