Perry Tarnished, Romney Holding Firm and Religious Bias Overestimated
Despite Perry’s early uninformed high poll numbers, Romney remains strong, and Perry’s veneer appears to be fading as he came under attack on various issues in the debates. These included his executive order mandating female child HPV inoculations (& possibly scandalous donations by the benefitting drug company & his persuasive staffer who benefitted), his stance on higher education benefits for illegals, his approach to Social Security dismantling, and the amount of credit he should take for his jobs record. When asked how much credit Perry deserves for Texas’ relatively strong jobs record, Romney replied that being dealt 4 aces doesn’t make you a good poker player. I.e., Perry already had a state w. no state income tax, w. Republican legislature, low corporate taxes, and right-to-work laws (not so union-burdened). And he pointed out that Perry’s 2 predecessors had higher job growth. Perry countered that his terms were in a time of national downturn. Yes, but not as dire ...