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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Regarding the booing of the gay soldier: I'd like to put all these Repub candidates in a room full of active-duty soldiers, all of whom have seen combat, and ask the candidates to point out which ones are gay and which are not.
The candidates then get to fight hand-to-hand the soldiers they misidentified.
Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle. Perry's calling Romney slick?! Holy cow. Perry is the quintessence of slick...not to mention slimy. He's only interested in propping up his image and lining his pockets. Heck, even most people in his hometown of Paint Creek, TX, want nothing to do with him. They're embarrassed by him. That speaks volumes!
God needs to stop so many asking crazy people to run for the Republican nomination. I suspect it's because during football season he's too distracted guiding all of those footballs through the goal posts and helping all of those receivers score touchdowns. I know he hasn't had time to bring the rain Perry's group prayed for a few weeks ago. Maybe they were speaking tongues and accidentally said the word for "fire" rather than "rain". It's all so confusing...
Having been born in Texas and being a proud, although displaced Texan right now, I have been fully supportive of Rick Perry, until this last debate. ILLEGAL IS ILLEGAL. Sorry, but you lost my vote, Now is the time for a more Conservative Candidate to come on the scene. The field is still wide open.
We need a break from all of this political stuff. Who will be the new kid on the block come October.
Call him dumb, call him whatever name you have in mind, just wait and see how conservatives think., they will pick him (Perry) as their candidate. It is all about how they feel and not what other people think about him!
Perry Slick as Vaseline !
Perry / Enron
A better tomorrow ?
Perry has a nerve to talk about slick, but he is right about Romney. Romney is no different than the other Republicans because he would implement the same failed Republican policies, tax cuts for the rich and deregulation.
Slick is better than dangerous fool.
I live in Texas. Rick Perry is the biggest murderer of all the candidates. He signed to have countless innocent black men executed when the evidence clearly indicated their guilt. Electing Rick Perry as President of the US sends a bad message worldwide. He's a murderer!
I live in Texas. Rick Perry is the biggest murderer of all the candidates. He signed to have countless innocent black men executed when the evidence clearly indicated their innocence. Electing Rick Perry as President of the US sends a bad message worldwide. He's a murderer!
Watch as they eat their own. Swine Repuklicans show their true nature. Pure evil.
TRickster is himself the SLICKEST of the slick out there, GOPers. His pockets are lined with corporation dollars. He speaks out of both sides of his mouth.
TRickster Perry hasn't looked in the mirror recently....
The only way for the repubs to come back down to earth as far as compromise is for them to get their clock cleaned in the next election. I used to have SOME respect for them but after what I have seen they want to do to our country and the people I cringe at the thought of a Repub pres and a repub controled house. 8 yrs of Bush has destroyed the best things this country was about, put us in one of the worst of situations in our history. And all they want to do is blame obama and do nothing?
I just can't see what people think they can accomplish with more of the same crap if they get control.
Give it up...you are a wash-out without leadership qualities...!
Hey Rick, Slam all you want, the question still remains, what sets you apart from the rest and what have you do to make the WORLD a better place. Need some help with that one Ricky? it starts with "N" and ends in "G" & letters...... Come on Ricky even a person with a 1.2 GPA can spell NOTHING.
"words over deeds"... indeed. W was an idiot but farther up the tree than this loony toon from Texas.
If you want uneducated, uninsured, low-paying jobs then Perry is your man. If the Republican Party wants to win in 2012, they are going to have to come up with better candidates. And during the debate when they stood there and said nothing about that GAY soldier, who defends their right to stand up there, well, that speaks VOLUMES to the type of people they are. Terrible candidates and no backbones at all.
It's kinda difficult to separate "We need a principled leader who will stand on his conservative values." from Jesus's parable of the "Bad Samaritan" . . .
Yes, Conservatives should stand on their values; that way they would at least be as tall as an ant...
Obama/Hilary in 2012 guaranteed success. Hilary Clinton in 2016-2024 the end of the Republican party. Just saying
We have yet to see one of these candidates stand up to the debate audiences. They remained eerily quiet when deaths by execution and lack of health insurance were cheered and when a gay soldier was jeered. The candidates' silence speaks volumes about their character.
Perry has been found out – he is on his way back to Texas with his (very small) tail between his legs
Obama/Hilary in 2012 guaranteed success. Hilary Clinton in 2016-2024 the end of the Republican party. Just saying
September 24, 2011 01:33 pm at 1:33 pm |
I thought Perry will be a good presidential candidate when he came up. But he is the same lying Republican. It is better to be slick than a liar. Perry said that a woman with cervical cancer lobbied for HPV vaccine. It turned out that he sign the bill first before he talked to this woman. WHAT A LIAR PERRY IS!!!