Redneck from Texas Attacks

Two weeks after entering the presidential race, Texan Rick Perry is already a clear front-runner for the Republican nomination. Meanwhile, President Obama breaks unpopularity records.

The newest survey by CNN shows that Rick Perry is supported by 27 percent of Republicans. The previous front-runner for nomination, Mitt Romney, is now supported by only 14 percent. This confirms the results of a recent survey by Gallup, according to which Perry had 29 percent and Romney 17 percent of support.

Perry is invariably compared to George W. Bush, who also ran for president as the governor of Texas (Perry was, as a matter of fact, lieutenant governor of Texas at the time). Some people make fun of his Texan accent, supposed rusticity and religiosity, which he manifests even more often than Bush.

“He’s like Bush only without the brains,” said one former Republican governor, who wishes to remain anonymous (this is sheer malice, as Bush’s intelligence was called into question as well). According to the Los Angeles Times, the former president has repeated in private conversation that Perry is not very smart.

Bush, whose lapsus linguae and blunders were the subject of numerous jokes, studied at prestigious Yale University and is a member of a powerful family (his father was also a U.S. president and is a millionaire).

Whereas Perry studied veterinary medicine at the little-known Texas A&M, and his mother sewed his underwear herself. He has little idea about international politics, which became obvious last week when he spoke vaguely in a TV interview about China’s growing power. His spokesman announced that Perry was reading Henry Kissinger’s book on China to catch up and that he is in general a devoted reader.

To Republican elites, “Perry is the low-rent country cousin,” said R.G. Ratcliffe, who is writing a book about Perry. For the voters, however, this is not of great importance, compared to the fact that it was in Texas (governed by Perry) where almost half of all the jobs created in the United States since mid-2009 originated. The 9 percent nationwide unemployment rate drags down President Barack Obama, whose approval rating fell last week to an all-time low of 38 percent (according to the Gallup poll) and at the same time increases support for Perry.

Romney, who lost the lead in the polls, for the time being implicitly attacks Perry. “Career politicians got us into this mess, and they simply don’t know how to get us out,” says Romney about the crisis. Unlike Obama or Perry (Texas governor for over 10 years), Romney is a highly regarded manager, who saved the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics from financial disaster.

Experts on U.S. politics remind us that the campaign, which has just begun, is far from decided. In 2004, General Wesley Clark also announced at a late date his candidacy for the Democratic nomination and immediately became the front-runner in the polls, but he ended up not playing a major role.