File Tim Pawlenty’s endorsement of Mitt Romney in the drawer marked Fancy That! So, not a surprise but telling nevertheless and a useful signal that the battle for the Republican party’s presidential nomination can be summarised as Problem Solvers vs Firebrands.
This may be a little unfair on Rick Perry since his candidacy is an attempt to fuse the two, albeit by pointing to Texas policies that may not be replicable in other parts of the great Union. Nevertheless, Perry’s campaign is, thus far at least, predicated upon an appeal to a certain kind of muscular conservatism whose appeal is largely a matter of aesthetics. That is, sound and style matter more than substance. If the candidate walks and talks like a proper conservative then to hell with his actual record.
Given Perry’s history – which is to say, heresy – on matters such as the HPV vaccine and immigration it’s still more important for him to look and sound the part.
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