Rick courting conservative talk radio hosts...

The Houston Chronicle editorializes (link). Excerpt follows...

With activists and observers still opining on whether his remarks on secession and his advocacy of states’ rights enhanced or harmed his reputation, or whether he even has a national reputation, Perry will moderate a forum Monday on President Barack Obama’s first 100 days.

Expect more talk about out-of-control Washington spending, says spokesman Mark Miner, with much time spent listening to people at the Dallas-area stop on a tour by three conservative radio talk-show hosts.

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To those who might poke fun at Texas or call it backward, he says, they are “most likely jealous of this state’s position ... economically.”

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But Perry’s Tea Party appearance had two benefits, especially to taxpayer activists and conservatives: “To have spoken at one of the rallies means the locals trust you and like you,” said Perry ally Grover Norquist. “To have said something that irritated the establishment press is an additional benefit.”

The dynamic duo of Ken Herman and Jason Embry add some details on Rick's wooing of conservative radio talk show hosts (link). Excerpt follows...

Perry's strategy is twofold: Curry early and solid support from conservatives to scare Hutchison out of the race (filing doesn't begin until December) or, failing that, force Hutchison to try to pass him on the left, a potentially precarious path in what will be the Texas GOP's most high-profile primary since it sealed its dominance in the mid-1990s.

"I still tell people I don't understand why we would want to spend $40 million in a primary and give (Republicans) a chance of losing a Senate seat in Washington when it's on the verge of being filibuster-proof" for Democrats, Perry told the American-Statesman recently. "So what sense does that make?"

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In Garland tonight, Perry will make opening comments before posing questions to the talk show hosts. In addition to the expected anti-Obama tone, the evening could contain a healthy heaping of anti-Washington sentiment.

Read the entire Herman/Embry piece. It has a good back and forth between Rick's team and Kay's team.

Tonight, Rick will "moderate" a townhall discussion about Obama's first 100 days with conservative talk show hosts Michael Medved, Mike Gallagher, and Hugh Hewitt, who is almost better known in the blog-o-sphere than on the radio (link).



Rick is seriously on fire with these events. He is endearing himself not just to conservative talk radio (Hannity endorsed him, Rush defended him, Boortz wants to have his babies, Laura Ingraham loved all over him.... the list goes on and on) but to the types of conservatives who actually vote in GOP primaries.

Kay is meanwhile choosing to visit libraries and open hospitals. There are only 10 months left in this race. When things heat up, Kay better be ready to rumble, or Rick is going to pull the upset not by a percentage point but by a big margin.

Evan Smith, Paul Burka, and Patricia Kilday Hart Rick all seem to agree with me in their podcast from Friday (link). They say Rick's numbers are firming up because he has been so visible in recent weeks.