The GOP field got a little smaller this weekend when former Texas Governor Rick Perry announced he was suspending his campaign for the presidential nomination.
Perry had been struggling in both fundraising and polling. His troubles were further underlined when he failed to make it into Fox and CNNs top tier debates. Perry had attempted to rebrand himself as an older and wiser candidate than when he ran in 2012. In the end he just wasn't able to make himself stand out in the crowded Republican presidential roster.
There may have been several reasons why there wasn't much appetite for a Perry run. The disaster of his run four years ago may have been the biggest factor. His notorious "oops" moment that sunk his campaign may have loomed over his head. This is when he was unable to remember the name of a department that he planned to cut should he become president. His campaign was further plagued by a rambling and confusing speech he gave after being medicated on pain killers for his recent back surgery.
Perry tried to overcome this by claiming that he had studied up on the issues this time and labeling his campaign as "a second chance". However problems persisted when he was indicted this summer on criminal charges of abuse of power as governor. Shortly after that his campaign faced competition when fellow Texan Ted Cruz and Texas connected Jeb Bush declared their candidacies. This effectively made it harder for him to lock up support in the Lone Star State.
Whether it was memory of his last campaign or whether he had more competition this time is up for debate as to why his campaign failed. The reason could be as simple as he reminds too many people of George W. Bush with his similar accent and mannerisms. Either way he is the first man out in the 2016 race so far and is one step closer to determining which candidate will emerge at the nominating convention in June.
No comments:
Post a Comment