By now, everybody's seen Rick Perry, and everybody--Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike--are probably asking themselves the same question, "What the hell?"
He flubs his own talking points, confuses vague statements for irrefutable fact, and apparently doesn't realize that Canada is a foreign country.
"He must have something," people all over the country are saying, "Because he's so popular in Texas."
Wrong on both counts. What you've seen is what you get--there's no "something else" happening with him, that's all there is. And he's not popular in Texas, either. The vast majority of Texas voters have never cast a vote for Rick Perry.
Follow me over the jump and I'll explain (be careful stepping over that coiled up snake in the grass).
I'm a bit surprised that no one in the media (or any of his GOP rivals) has jumped on the fact that practically no one in Texas has ever cast a vote for Rick Perry. I've had it published in one letter to the editor and keep trying for more, and keep posting the idea on various newspaper blogs. Still, I keep reading again and again that Rick Perry must be popular in Texas because he keeps getting re-elected.
The fact is, it's just plain old voter apathy during gubernatorial elections and a lack of term limits that keeps Rick Perry in office.
Take a look at the voter turnout data from the Secretary of State's office and you'll see what I mean: Turnout and Voter Registration Figures (1970-current). In 2010, we saw Rick Perry bragging that he got 55% of the vote over Democrat Bill White. But only 38% of registered voters bothered to show up at the polls. Rick Perry walked away with 2,733,784 votes to Bill White's 2,102,606, but Perry's share is only 20.6% of registered voters. So we've got a situation in Texas where a little over 20% of registered voters are keeping a really horrible governor in office.
And, yes, I know it doesn't speak well for our side, either, that we can't drum up enough enthusiasm among Democrats to show our wildly unpopular Governor the door. But that's a fight for another day.
The task at hand right now is to spread the word: the vast majority of Texans have never cast a vote for Rick Perry.