The 2016 Contenders: Rick Perry
()
About this ebook
Often their greatest strength can turn at supernova speed into their greatest weakness. The exact qualities that set them apart from the field trip them up eventually over the long haul of a presidential campaign.
Some see former Texas governor Rick Perry as one of the most instinctive retail politicians in the 2016 GOP field. Others see a glib pitchman who must overcome the perception that he’s all flash and little substance. Four years after his famous ‘oops’ incident, can he persuade voters that he’s the real deal?
In this series of eBooks, The Washington Post is exploring in-depth all these key characteristics of the leading presidential contenders, the very characteristics that could help make one of them the country’s next commander in chief—or forever sink their presidential ambitions.
Related to The 2016 Contenders
Related ebooks
The 2016 Contenders: Hillary Clinton Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 2016 Contenders: Marco Rubio Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 2016 Contenders: Chris Christie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 2016 Contenders: Rand Paul Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 2016 Contenders: Ted Cruz Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 2016 Contenders: Mike Huckabee Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 2016 Contenders: Scott Walker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInside and Out: The Odyssey of a Gay Conservative Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElecting A Kennedy Congress Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Palin Effect: Money, Sex and Class in the New American Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo for the Cabinet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Faith and Values of Sarah Palin: What She Believes and What It Means for America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife of the Party: A Political Press Tart Bares All Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Right Now: A 12-Step Program For Defeating The Obama Agenda Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Things Possible: Setbacks and Success in Politics and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Building Trust in Government: Governor Richard H. Bryan's Pursuit of the Common Good Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 2016 Contenders: Jeb Bush Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Front Lines of Pennsylvania Politics: Twenty-five Years of Keystone Reporting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Personality Wins (2024 Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beloved Workhorses: How Not Pursuing Fame Did Not Inhibit U.S. House Members from Effectiveness and Likability Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLast of Its Kind - First of This Kind:: Early 1990S Senate Campaigns - Transformed from Ordinary to Calls for More Women & Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWinning Right: Campaign Politics and Conservative Policies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings101 Reasons to Vote against Hillary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCelebritocracy: The Misguided Agenda of Celebrity Politics in a Postmodern Democracy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPolitical Mercenaries: The Inside Story of How Fundraisers Allowed Billionaires to Take Over Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRepublican Character: From Nixon to Reagan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Bad Governments Happen to Good People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Politics For You
The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalism and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on the U.S.-Israeli War on the Palestinians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quest for Cosmic Justice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Humanity Archive: Recovering the Soul of Black History from a Whitewashed American Myth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ever Wonder Why?: and Other Controversial Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for The 2016 Contenders
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The 2016 Contenders - Stephanie McCrummen
The 2016 Contenders:
Rick Perry
By Stephanie McCrummen,
The Washington Post
Copyright
Diversion Books
A Division of Diversion Publishing Corp.
443 Park Avenue South, Suite 1008
New York, NY 10016
www.DiversionBooks.com
Copyright © 2015 by The Washington Post
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For more information, email info@diversionbooks.com
First Diversion Books edition July 2015
ISBN: 978-1-68230-000-8
Introduction
Presidential candidates are a breed apart, often propelled by traits that have shaped their careers and have deep roots in their personal histories.
Time and again a candidate’s greatest strength also proves to be his or her greatest weakness. The exact qualities that set them apart from the field tend to undermine their campaigns over the long haul.
It’s Ted Cruz’s ramrod devotion to principle—or, its flip side, an unyielding insistence on getting his way—that could propel him to the front ranks of Republican contenders for president or render him unelectable.
Rand Paul’s ability to sell himself as the most libertarian of the presidential candidates—defending civil liberties at home and opposing military adventurism and nation-building abroad—is what can set him apart. But those unconventional ideas could also box him in. Libertarians don’t win national elections, unless you count Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and 1804.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is a man in a hurry, whose dizzying political ascent—he has never lost a race—is a testament to his quickness to spot openings and go for them. The question now, as he aims for the White House, is whether voters ultimately see Rubio as refreshing and bold, the inspiring face of a new generation—or just a promising young pol getting ahead of himself.
It was as a lifelong broadcaster that Mike Huckabee, the onetime pastor on TV,
perfected the conservative amiability that helped him win the Iowa caucuses in 2008 and could again set him apart from an increasingly crowded field of Republicans. But in the GOP of 2016, when the sharp edge plays better than the soft smile, Huckabee enters the race facing a key question: Will the same I’m not mad at anybody
on-air vibe that fueled his rise make him a non-starter for mad-as-hell early Republican voters?
Some see former Texas governor Rick Perry as one of the most instinctive retail politicians in the 2016 GOP field. Others see a glib pitchman who must overcome the perception that he’s all flash and little substance. Four years after his famous ‘oops’ incident, can he persuade voters that he’s the real deal?
Hillary Clinton’s won’t-back-down resolve is the quality that could make her America’s first female president if it doesn’t sabotage her first. She may have gotten her first campaign for the Democratic nomination wrong, but now she is doggedly determined to get it right. But that past