Opinion: Rick Perry: A ‘Reagan dunderhead’?
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My Sunday column on the presidential prospects of Texas Gov. Rick Perry provoked a storm of comments from readers -- a storm that quickly turned into a snarkfest of sarcasm from both sides.
That tells us (in case we didn’t know already) that an Obama-Perry race would be pretty polarizing. For one thing, it might bring social issues like abortion, gay marriage and abstinence back onto the front burner, where they notably weren’t during most of last year’s congressional campaigns.
In fact, some Republican strategists I talked with worried that Perry might not be a great GOP candidate in a general election for precisely that reason: Because of his unadorned views on social issues, he’d risk turning off independent voters, who tend to swing presidential elections. What do you think?
One reader, Chris+Kane, complained that the liberal media are painting Perry as ‘a Reagan dunderhead.’ He couldn’t have been talking about me; I didn’t use the word ‘dunderhead’ (didn’t even get close). And suggesting that a Republican politician might resemble Ronald Reagan isn’t an insult anywhere in America. Most places, it’s more like an endorsement.
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--Doyle McManus
