Looks like mild-mannered Mitt may be starting to get under Governor Rick Perry’s spray-on-tanned skin. Actually, Mitt is turning out to be a more effective debater this time around. I don’t think that “Quick-draw Rick” is used to such ill-mannered affronts as he encountered during last night’s dog and pony show. But it appears that Mitt got in a few jabs and if Perry had not been saved by the bell, there may have been blood, or whatever Republicans have in their veins.
So what’s a gentleman rancher like Perry to do to regain his momentum and ensure his status as front-runner? He could go after Romney’s liberal health care experiment in Massachusetts. He could even go after Romney’s somewhat limited hunting experience. Or maybe Perry could attack Romney on his use of taxpayer funds to save the Utah Winter Olympics?
No, what the situation requires, of course, is a stupid, futile gesture on someone's part. And Rick Perry is just the guy to do it. You see, Rick Perry is one of them real Christians with all the prayin’ and savin’ and miracles. And don’t forget about that Satan dude; he’s a key player too. After all, all those Texas fires are his fault. Romney, on the other hand, calls himself a Christian and belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. Lot’s of clean-cut, reverent white folks just like those Methodists that Perry pals around with.
But Perry’s crew doesn’t cotton to most of the LDS belief system and is convinced that the Saints are really a cult. Perry knows that a lot of his potential Republican base shares these sentiments. Now, if it gets late in the primary process and he and the Mittster are still neck and neck, Perry would still have one card up his French-cuffed sleeve – the Mormon card. Never before played, large potential for blowback, but more deadly than any old Willie Horton ruse. Perry’s thinking, “I’m going to take Utah anyway, so what the heck?”
So in the final debate, Perry will dare Romney to show his underwear. But what will be more embarrassing, Romney’s temple garments or Perrys “tighty-whities” with little cowboys and Indians?