Orlando (CNN) - After emerging bruised from Thursday night's Republican presidential debate in Orlando, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is stepping up his attacks against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, casting his chief GOP rival as "slick" and inauthentic.
"What Americans are looking for isn't the slickest candidate," Perry told Republican activists Saturday. "They are looking for an authentic principled leader. You've seen what happens when our country chooses leaders who emphasize words over deeds."
Perry was speaking at a breakfast, organized by his campaign, for delegates to the Presidency 5 Forum in Orlando, a convention of Florida Republicans that culminates with a presidential straw poll Saturday afternoon.
Although he did not mention his opponent by name, Romney was unmistakably in his sights.
"America doesn't need more slick promises," Perry said to applause. "We need a principled leader who will stand on his conservative values."
The Texan is the only major candidate actively courting the roughly 3,500 activists participating in the Presidency 5 straw poll.
Perry called Florida "the state that picks presidents," a remark that might irk Republican activists in Iowa and New Hampshire who firmly guard their leadoff positions in the presidential nominating process.
Perry recalled how he watched the 2000 Florida recount with anxiety when he was lieutenant governor of Texas, wondering if then-Gov. George W. Bush would pull out a victory and head to the White House.
Bush's win thrust Perry into the governor's mansion.
"And here we are, 11 years later, and I got all my hopes on Florida again," he said.
He implicitly chided Romney and other candidates who "spurned" the straw poll, calling their move "a big mistake."
Straw poll results are expected around 6 p.m., at which point Perry will be long gone.
Both he and Romney are slated to address the Mackinac Island GOP conference in Michigan in the evening.
From CNN Politics
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The only "big mistake" here is Perry himself. All he did was 7th grade style name-calling. A good candidate would talk about what he or she can bring to the table. Bye, Perry.
Rick Perry,"Is the most "Dangerous Man in America right now!! After the booing at an American Soldier in Florida, the Republican base is "Unpratriotic,Heartless,and completely non compassionate to the American People!!! This soldier is fighting for the "Safety of these "Heartless Lunatics???? The Republican Party is "a Disgrace to America!!! Period!
( Perry ) I have fallen and i can not get up !
Principled? This liar? What a laugh.
Look who's calling the Pot Black. Perry should know slick, he defines the word. Living in a State bordering Texas, we hear plenty of negatives about him, ask the many retirees why they don't stay in Texas, but move to Arkansas.
Romney is slick and Perry is a hick – even draw.
"Inauthentic"....yup, this guy Perry is the most UNAUTHENTIC character of all. Now that he is running for President, alot of the views in his book written just a short time ago have either changed or been modified. Sounds like Mr. Authenticity isn't the "real" deal after all.
Rick tries to be slick but he just doesn't have the ability to be slick.
It’s too late to attack Romney almost every conservative columnist done with Rick Perry
With in 6 weeks lot of change in conservative base
Compared to Parry my four year old beagle is "slick".
I can not imagine what it is people are thinking that would support this party. We need our government to be funded. We need the government to function. The GOP/Tea Pee Pants people just want Obama to fail. That's not a platform to help the American people. Its incredibly un-patrotic, moronic and down right stupid.
And I thought „slick“ was Perry’s first name…
Maybe "slick" refers to the ability of deductive reasoning.
Perry should look in the mirror before he calls anyone "slick" and unauthentic.
When will the GOP accept that not everyone in the country is conservative? Our president, whoever it is, leads the entire country, not just those of their own philosophy. Live by your principles but don't try to make everyone just like you. Diversity is what makes this country great. The TP is doing its level best to turn the USA into a theocracy and that is the very last thing we need. And before someone says he didn't mention religion, be it known that when today's right-side politicians say conservative they really mean conservative Christians. And, surprise, surprise, not all Christians are conservative to say nothing of the fact that not all citizens are Christian.
Perry: "You've seen what happens when our country chooses leaders who emphasize words over deeds."
And we've seen what happens when our country chooses leaders who emphasize ideology over intelligence: two wars and a wrecked economy.
I'm from Texas, and I know Slick. We've had it for the last 10 years (No, not everyone in Texas voted for the Rickster). He is completely devoid of any substance. Self- interest and narrow, provincial thinking are his hallmarks. He wants us all to re-live the peak experiences he had as a youth in Paint Creek. If it weren't for his good hair and athletic appearance, he'd be just another unknown good ol' boy. Some people in Texas like him, but as for the rest of the country, you'd be wise to take a good look at him. You probably won't like his fundamentalist, autocratic style. We're supposed to be freedom-loving in Texas, but it's a very narrow definition of freedom, one that entails turning over a lot of the democratic processes that require serious thinking to a political boss. You can be free in Texas, as long as you're of the same mind and shallow values as Rick Perry.
Let me get this straight. He has the nerve to call one of his opponents slick? He makes "slick Willie" look incompetent.
I think I know what Perry means when he calls Romney slick – he means Romney can speak without a teleprompter and make sense, he does his homework and thus looks prepared, doesn't stutter and make crazy facial and body movements visibly looking shaken when asked a hard question. Yep, that's pretty slick all right.
Incredible that Perry would call anybody "slick"! This same weasel told the heartbreaking of the woman with cervical cancer who convinced him to approve the HPV vaccine. When the truth was revealed we discover he met the woman after he had already signed the order and after the checks from the drug manufacturer had cleared. He also wrote an editorial slamming anybody who would accept federal stimulus money – the editorial published on the same day he accepted the funds. He later claimed to have balanced the budget in Texas but failed to mention the fact that the stimulus money offset losses from his mismanagement. He's a more dishonest copy of "W".
That is a really funny statement coming form Ole Slick Rick!
"They are looking for an authentic principled leader. You've seen what happens when our country chooses leaders who emphasize words over deeds."
But we are also looking for a sane candidate and one that is not a secessionist or religious bigot and zealot to run the other 49 states.
Slick Rick you fail.
The only "Slick" person I see in this article is Perry himself. Honestly, who goes to dinner and a fashion show with Donald Trump?
If they're looking for an authentic, principled, non-slick candidate, then they're not looking for Rick Perry.
Our process for selecting presidents is broken. Let the party leaders choose the candidate. Then let the voters decide.
To answer the question as to why America doesn't want to elect another Texas Republican to the Presidency, let me just quote the 'slick' George W. Bush. "There's an old saying in Tennessee... I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee... that says, fool me once... shame on... shame on you. Fool me... uh... you can't be fooled again."