If (when) He Runs, Can He Win?

It says a lot about your political leverage and viability on a national scale when you’re polling in second place for your party’s nomination. The fact that Perry has not even officially entered the race and in polling in a not so distant second place behind party nominee front runner Mitt Romney (according to the most recent preliminary polls) speaks volumes about his influence and clout in the Republican Party.

Rick Perry has a few things working to his advantage and the following may result in Perry, as soon as he officially declares his candidacy, facing President Barack Obama for the highest executive office in 2012. The first and perhaps most significant weapon working in Perry’s favor has been his attitude and (political) actions towards the Federal government, particularly as of recent. His rejection of stimulus funding from the Federal government was, in the eyes of fiscal conservatives in the state of Texas and across the nation, a bold courageous affront to “big, overbearing government” in Washington. The faux pas immunity from the national recession the state of Texas seemed to be enjoying up until 2009 only further justified Perry’s decision to decline Federal funding and to verbally critique the Obama administration.

Furthermore, Rick Perry has balanced his conservative persona. The election of current President Barack Obama produced the polarizing political faction the “Tea Party”, a group that advocates for fiscal responsibility, limited government spending/intervention and strict adherence to the constitution. This faction of conservatives and their increasingly growing presence has split the Republican Party in two, between the former and moderate conservatives. As a result, candidates vying for the Republican nomination in 2012 have had to walk the tightrope of appeasing both groups, moderates and tea party activist, to gain as much consolidated support as possible. Because Rick Perry is able to appeal to the fiscal hawks of the tea party, the religious part of his base and to the moderates who may be under the impression that Rick Perry has been good for Texas, at least economically, the current governor is in the driver’s seat of a Republican race that is aimed straight for the Whitehouse. Rick Perry can certainly win the Republican nomination and maybe even the presidency in 2012. Whether or not he’s capable of running this country is yet to be seen.