Paul Versus Perry

In all the hubbub about Gov. Rick Perry entering the GOP presidential race, what seems to have been forgotten is that, out of the Texans running, he came second in the Ames Republican Presidential straw poll. The Lone Star winner was Congressman Ron Paul, who polled 27.65% to Perry’s 3.62%. Now Paul is taking a serious potshot at the Paint Creek upstart.

Today Paul has come out swinging with a new ad entitled “The One Who Can Beat Obama,” one of those cod-cinematic ads in which he compares himself to all his rivals in the GOP primary. But wait, whose face is that flashing up at the 15 second mark? Just as the ominous voice-over talks about “failed leadership” and “smooth talking politicians”? Could it be the one and only Governor Good Hair?

Not only does Paul include the recently-declared Perry in the TV spot, but he is the first of his political rivals to be shown: Before President Barack Obama, before poll winner and Tea Party fave Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and before establishment GOP fave ex-governor Mitt Romney Yeowch.

It’s a return of a vintage meme from Paul, who said he was “the only one” back in 2008 with his pure Evol Ron Paul r3VOLution campaign for the GOP nomination.

So far, Paul is being written off by much of the national press, who are casting the story as a three-way battle between Romney, Bachmann and Perry. But here’s the rub. Bachmann will be fighting Perry tooth-and-nail for the paranoid religious fundamentalist end of the Tea Party; Meanwhile, Paul has a much longer record with the libertarian/Libertarian/free marketeer/conspiracy theory track. If Paul decides to keep the pressure on Perry, that could be good news for Romney.

This article appears in August 12 • 2011.