Opinion

Governor, it's time to mosey on home

Time to quit, Governor.

I know. Earlier this week, among the headlines I said I'd like to see in 2012 was this one: Perry wins GOP nomination.

I knew as I wrote it that it was not likely to come true. That's why they call it a wish — a selfish one at that, based on the desire for an even more revealing national spotlight on Texas policies and one of their chief architects.

But first impressions count. Iowans didn't like what they saw. This no doubt had more to do with the fumbling, wounded candidate than his fumbling, wounded policies.

Governor, these wounds were all self-inflicted. The millions you spent on advertising could not put all of Gov. Humpty's pieces back together again in Iowa.

Governor, I don't know how many advisers are pumping you up. Ignore them. You can think this one through on your own.

You couldn't convince caucusing Iowans that Rick Perry is the rightest of the right, the most believing of the evangelical believers. Why do you think you'll have better luck in later primaries?

More to the point, you clearly could not even convince a bunch of these folks — and all other Iowa Republicans not in those camps — that you are the most electable come November. This will be the case even if you are willing (or able) to raise and spend millions more for more slick advertising whose real message would, out of necessity, be: Don't believe what your lying eyes and ears tell you about my debate and campaign performances; believe what I say about me.

It appears clear that Texas' brand of conservatism is not a microcosm of the nation, that the last Texan in the Oval Office might have worn out the welcome mat for Texans cut from the same cloth, and that others outside Texas are less forgiving of your flaws. And, by the way, one really can't accuse others of being in cahoots with special interests if the record shows telltale sign of cahootism.

It's telling that the other Texan — strong third-place finisher Ron Paul — is standing taller after Iowa, not because he's a Texan, but because, unlike you, he appeals across party lines.

Now, the various parts of Paul's coalition, if they think this through, will find irreconcilable differences with other parts.

The folks who find his views compelling on ending and staying out of war — even the war on drugs — are one set of folks. They are not necessarily the same who find Paul's views on obliterating much of the federal government so irresistible or the same as those so oblivious or forgiving of Paul's past racist newsletters. His repudiation of these doesn't wash.

If the impossible occurs and Paul becomes president, it will be a case of the individual parts outweighing the totality. And God help us.

Perhaps, Governor, you are noting that most Iowa Republicans voted for someone other than Mitt-Romney and you are hoping to be the last non-Mitt guy left standing. Persistence and timing can count for a lot. Ask Rick Santorum.

This scenario, however, supposes voter amnesia, that the president's negatives will outweigh yours and that your future campaigning will be error- and debate-free.

Good luck with that.

People have lost Iowa and still won their party's nomination. And, given this GOP campaign's volatility, I guess that even you have an outside chance.

But it will take an extraordinary set of circumstances for that to happen for you. Just because you still have money in the campaign kitty to run doesn't mean that you should.

o.ricardo.pimentel@express.news.net