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September 25, 2011 8:00 AM Perry flops in Florida (again)

By Steve Benen

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Rick Perry had a credible plan for the weekend. Following a disastrous debate performance in Orlando on Thursday night, and the ensuing blowback from party leaders and activists, the Texas governor needed something to boost confidence in his suddenly-flailing campaign.

That something was the Republican Party of Florida’s “Presidency 5” straw poll. Though officially downplaying its significance, the Perry campaign went all out to win the contest, and hoped to use a victory here to bounce back quickly, starting a new narrative.

Instead, Perry’s P5 failure has had the opposite effect.

Herman Cain, the former chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza, won the Florida straw poll [Saturday], defeating second-place Rick Perry after the Texas governor worked the crowd of activists with a breakfast speech Saturday morning.

Mr. Cain won nearly 40 percent of the 2,657 people who voted, more than doubling Mr. Perry’s total and that of Mitt Romney, who came in a close third.

All of the candidates spoke to the crowd of Florida Republicans who gathered here for the Faith and Freedom Coalition and Conservative Political Action Conference meetings.

The usual caveats certainly apply to a contest like this, most notably the fact that it’s a relatively small group of activists who had to pay to participate.

But presidential straw polls tend to have more significance if top-tier candidates give them significance. And in this case, Perry made a real effort to win — he reached out to delegates personally over the course of several days — but got trounced anyway.

The poor showing suggests Perry’s fumbling debate performance carries some consequences. For a Republican establishment unsure if the Texas governor is truly ready for prime time, these two high-profile Florida failures — first the debate, then the straw poll — only serve to strengthen doubts.

Here, by the way, were the official results, as released by the state GOP:

1. Herman Cain, 37.1%
2. Rick Perry, 15.4%
3. Mitt Romney, 14%
4. Rick Santorum, 10.9%
5. Ron Paul, 10.4%
6. Newt Gingrich, 8.4%
7. Jon Huntsman, 2.3%
8. Michele Bachmann, 1.5%

Romney didn’t make much of an effort — he left Florida on early Friday, effectively ceding the straw poll — so his campaign is probably satisfied with a third-place showing. Jon Huntsman has characterized Florida one of his strongest states, though yesterday’s results suggest otherwise.

Bachmann, meanwhile, appears to be moving quickly in the wrong direction.

Steve Benen is a contributing writer to the Washington Monthly, joining the publication in August, 2008 as chief blogger for the Washington Monthly blog, Political Animal.
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  • c u n d gulag on September 25, 2011 8:14 AM:

    Steve,
    I think you missed in your title. You could have called this post one of the following:

    "Cain Is Able!"

    Or,

    "Yes We Cain!!!"

  • Danp on September 25, 2011 8:14 AM:

    Rom Paul seems to have such a loyal minority, he's kind of like the Grateful Dead without the grateful part.

  • DAY on September 25, 2011 8:25 AM:

    The takeaway is that even GuanoNutz can spot a phony.

  • fostert on September 25, 2011 8:32 AM:

    This is just nonsense. Straw polls this early are useless. I mean, really, is Herman Cain going to be the nominee? Not a chance. Perry is still the guy. Yeah, they have problems with him, but they have problems with all of their candidates. Romney might have a chance, but only if he rejects his Mormon faith and becomes a Southern Baptist. The simple fact is that most Republicans will not vote for a Mormon. Until Romney corrects that problem, he's doomed. It's really a race now between Perry and Cain. And if Perry can't win that one, he's even more stupid than he seems.

  • Anonymous on September 25, 2011 8:45 AM:

    I think you miscalculate the Republican Party, fostert. I think the wingers will fall nicely behind Romney if he becomes their nominee,because that's the way the party works. They're still, after all, a bunch of lemmings.

    However, I'm kinda worried that Chris Christie is going to feel like he'll have to jump in and save the party. He will attract the moderates, and the wingers will fall in line.

  • Proudhon on September 25, 2011 9:00 AM:

    Actually, judging by the results, Florida really is one of Huntsman's stronger states.

  • troglodyte on September 25, 2011 9:10 AM:

    This is a watershed moment for the Repubs, because a black man has just won an elective event, not just participated in one. In 1988, enough ordinary Democratic voters supported Jesse Jackson to make him seem like a serious candidate, if only for a few microseconds. And JJ got many of his votes because the rank-and-file Dem voter was dissatisfied with Dukakis. Even though the Democratic party was the one most congenial to African-American aspirations, it was still barely conceivable in 1988 that they would nominate a black man for Pres. In 1988 Jesse Jackson showed that it might be possible.

    The Repubs are not going to nominate HCain anymore than the 1988 Dems were going to nominate JJackson, but 20 years from now the demographics of the Repubs will evolve and it might be possible. Something to look forward to.

  • CDW on September 25, 2011 9:29 AM:

    Cain won a straw poll in Denver back in July with a fiery speech, but so far, no one has taken him seriously as a candidate. The MSM can't get over their current love affair with Perry.

    http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_18972383

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/60334.html

  • POed Lib on September 25, 2011 9:30 AM:

    So, do I have this right?

    1) Perry make "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme"

    2) He goes to FL where 20% are on SS.

    3) He gets his butt kicked by a 3rd rate moron who has never gotten out of single digits, but who has also not made a point of dumping on SS.

    What is surprising about this? "SS is a Ponzi scheme" is a losing position.

  • Rob on September 25, 2011 9:40 AM:

    Bachmann, meanwhile, appears to be moving quickly in the wrong direction.

    I dunno, I'd say its the exact right direction--an express lane out of politics entirely.

  • sick -n-effin-tired on September 25, 2011 9:49 AM:

    I live among the lunatics that voted in this poll. These are some seriously unhinged individuals , almost to a person are infected with Fox Derangement Syndrome. That any one of these candidates would be considered credible let alone having a chance at winning the Presidency defies logic. The United States of Stupid .

  • wordtypist on September 25, 2011 10:10 AM:

    It's silly to pay any attention to this. 2600 who had to pay to participate? Probably half of them were from the Villages. This is beyond meaningless. (Now I wonder why I'm paying any attention to it.)

  • golack on September 25, 2011 10:46 AM:

    I thought the SNL debate was great...oh wait, you're talking about the real one-my bad

  • berttheclock on September 25, 2011 10:52 AM:

    Cain had a home court advantage, but, more importantly, there are TPers who really love to put up Cain as an example that they are not racist for trying to hard to defeat Obama. This morning over at HuffPo, there is a thread about Morgan Freeman denouncing TPers as racist. The counter from the Right is CAIN.

  • fostert on September 25, 2011 11:38 AM:

    Anonymous, you have obviously never lived in the South. No Republican can win without the South. And to win in the South, you must be Christian. Understand, Christian, not Catholic. Catholics are only considered Christian in Louisiana. They are heretics in the rest of the South. And that's just Catholics. Mormons? Well, they aren't even human, much less Christian. And trust me, they ain't kidding. If I admit I'm a Buddhist there, they won't serve me in a bar or restaurant. If Romney can muster even 25% support anywhere in the South, I'd be really surprised.

  • T2 on September 25, 2011 11:45 AM:

    Christie will have the same problem Perry has, except he is fat. He skates through his state relatively unopposed by using bully politics. And he's not real well like there. Nationally, he'll have the same issues Perry is facing.

  • burro on September 25, 2011 2:33 PM:

    Perry has his very rote shtick down pat, and it served him will in Texas.

    When Kay B. Hutchinson had the temerity to take him on for the Gov's spot, he took great pride in needing to barely wave his cow patty tipped scepter to make her go away, with condescending insults and macho wienie waggling being ladled on for good measure as she left the field. He thought this new thing would be one of those.

    Rick Perry is not ready for Prime Time, nor is he going to be. He is what he is. He's a one trick pony, and being the slick twit who's been gov forever because Texans think that he looks and acts exactly like what a Texas gov should look and act like, is his trick.

    Gov Blowhard doesn't want to be president enough to slog through all the crap he's catching, plus he doesn't know how to be anything but the character he's honed for years.

    And the teabagger darling is falling from grace with faux news. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/25/fox-news-sunday-rick-perry-debate_n_979874.html

    He stepped out of Texas and he stepped in shit. He'll be scraping it off every day until he goes home. He hates it when his boots aren't looking sharp. Those boots are what he is.

  • Schtick on September 25, 2011 7:40 PM:

    This is Florida. Think about it. Look who they elect.


    crapcha....boning rtiser....no bro, please don't

  • Trollop on September 26, 2011 9:04 AM:

    Will this poll have an indepth analysis in this month's Psychology Today?

    Craptcha: hatgrap loan.

    I think I might need one of those..

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