From Will Wilkinson, who scored a front-row Iowa diner seat to an encounter between Rick Perry and a libertarian critic who thinks he’s just another big-spendin’ liberal:
I enjoyed witnessing this fleeting, close-up moment of flesh-pressing campaign politicking. Mr Perry’s skillful exit from the exchange, his calmly assertive demeanour (note the way his initially attentive eyes narrow into a challenging “kiss off” grin, the way he presses his index finger softly into Mr Hjelm’s chest) and the
folksy leavening of his denigrating parting shot, all suggest to me a seriously skilled retail politician whose swagger remains mostly charming even when he’s being an impatient prick.
Video at the link. Wilkinson also points out that Sarah Palin has taken up this particular line of attack, retweeting the chart on the right that takes direct aim at Perry’s debt-loving ways. Did she call attention to this because it makes her look good or because it makes Perry look bad? With Palin, it’s hard to say. But luckily for her, it does both.
