Don’t count Perry out or Cruz in for 2016, yet.

About Rick Perry and Ted Cruz for president, Wayne Slater the conservative-hater, writing for the Dallas Morning News wrote: “There are several things Iowa conservatives cite about Ted Cruz as reasons he might be a good presidential candidate. One big one: he’s not Rick Perry. There was a palpable sense among Christian conservatives and tea party activists in Iowa last week that Perry, while ideologically sound, had embarrassed himself and the GOP with his stumbling, inarticulate performance in last year’s presidential race… Cruz, by contrast, is Harvard and Princeton educated. He’s a champion debater. He’s argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. In other words, Iowa Republicans kept saying, he’s not a dumb guy.”

Later in Slater’s piece was this: “But it was hard to find anybody in Iowa who thought another Perry presidential bid would be a good idea. Cecil Stinemetz of Grace West Church in Des Moines put it this way: “If I had Cruz here and Perry here, Cruz would be my man, hands down. I think Perry has kind of brought himself back. But he doesn’t have a chance if Cruz is in it, that’s my opinion.”

History of presidential politics says that candidates can overcome plenty, including freshman bumbling for which Perry is well chided. So I wouldn’t accept his out-and-over status as fact nor would I accept the idea that Ted Cruz is suddenly the one all want. Cruz is the favorite of most conviction conservatives at the moment but, we’re not anywhere near the majority of the party and, given that Cruz has zero national organization as of yet, I’d say being popular and being viable are different things – at this point.

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