Michael Shear in the New York Times this morning:
Presidential candidates have three options when they are presented with past positions or actions that become political liabilities once they are facing voters. They can back down and apologize. They can stand their ground, consequences be damned. Or they can find a way to do both, usually by recalibrating their positions and tweaking history.
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas did all three Monday night.
Technically, I suppose this is true. Perry has indeed admitted he made a mistake when he issued an executive order requiring young girls to get an HPV vaccine. He’s admitted it over and over and over because the tea party crowd is on the warpath over this. Besides, he reversed gears on that years ago. There’s really no downside to fessing up.
But that’s an outlier. The thing that stands out about Perry’s candidacy so far is that this is really the only issue he’s reversed course on. Contra Shear, he didn’t back down on Social Security last night at all. It’s true that he didn’t repeat his Ponzi scheme nonsense, but he didn’t come anywhere near to disowning it. And Shear doesn’t even touch on the most obnoxious example of Perry’s (quite obvious) decision to never to back down from anything: his doubling down on the charge that printing more money would make Ben Bernanke “almost treasonous”:
Blitzer: You stand by those remarks, Governor?
Perry: I said that if you are allowing the Federal Reserve to be used for political purposes that it would be almost treasonous. I think that is a very clear statement of fact.
Crowd: [Loud cheers, clapping.]
Put this together with Perry’s loud insistence that he stands by every last word in his book, Fed Up!, and it’s obvious that he’s decided one thing: Republican voters might or might not agree with everything you say, but they’ll crucify anyone who ever admits either a mistake or even a moment’s doubt. They want the mindless self-confidence that comes from deep in the gut, and Perry’s going to give it to them, come hell or high water. That’s the takeaway from last night’s debate.
