Off to a Rousing Start in Iowa, Perry Takes Aim at Rivals

Off to a Rousing Start in Iowa, Perry Takes Aim at Rivals

WATERLOO, Iowa -- Just a day after joining the 2012 presidential race, Texas Gov. Rick Perry arrived here and started drawing subtle contrasts, most of them biographical and stylistic, with his top rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.

He stormed into Waterloo’s Electric Park Ballroom on Sunday night to commence his first trip to the Hawkeye State since acknowledging in May his interest in a White House bid. And he delivered a jolt of energy that matched his sizable entourage -- the largest of any of the candidates in the field -- in what should serve as a warning shot to Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann, who have been leading the pack of GOP contenders.

Bachmann had just won the symbolic Iowa Straw Poll in Ames the day before, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum turned in a surprisingly strong fourth-place finish in the critical test of activist strength. Both socially conservative candidates secured last-minute speaking slots here Sunday for the Black Hawk County Lincoln Day Dinner, but it was Perry, the evening’s original headliner, who sucked up all the oxygen in the room and received the most enthusiastic reception from the hundreds of attendees.

One thing that distinguishes Perry from the rest of the field, for instance, is his military service in the 1970s, when he flew C-130 planes as a captain in the Air Force; no other candidate in the race can boast military service. He used that particular credential to drive home his message about the economy, noting the country needs better financial health to support its military, an issue he’s passionate about, in part thanks to his past.

“One of the reasons -- one of the powerful reasons -- that I’m running for the presidency of the United States is to make sure that every young man and woman who puts on the uniform of this country respects highly the president of the United States,” he said to thunderous applause.

“You cannot have a strong military,” he noted moments later, “if you do not have the economics first to pay for that military.”

The two top issues in the election, he told voters, are jobs and debt, which Romney, too, hammers on the campaign trail. But while Romney tells voters repeatedly how much he knows about the economy from working 25 years in the private sector (and spends little time talking about his record as governor of Massachusetts), Perry weaved together his vision for the nation’s economy by tying it to his accomplishments in Texas.

“We’ve had the most sweeping tort reform in the nation,” he said, asserting that as a result of the law passed in 2003, there are 20,000 more physicians in Texas. He spoke of cutting taxes and sparking the best job growth of any state in the nation.

And instead of blasting President Obama in the ways his competitors have, Perry chose his words carefully, explaining that he’s not angry but indignant about the federal government.

(Romney has politely asked voters at his events to read his book, “No Apology: Believe in America,” when voters ask him detailed questions about certain issues within the federal government. Perry asked one of his questioners if he had read his book, “Fed Up!” and then commanded, over laughter, “Get a copy of it and read it.”)

For Perry, a commitment to the 10th Amendment -- which grants to states those powers that are not expressly given to the federal government -- is among his chief talking points. But when Santorum spoke earlier in the program, he needled Perry on the issue without calling him out by name.

“I have differences with some in this race who say that states can do whatever they want to do,” Santorum noted, saying that the 10th Amendment should not apply to what he considers major moral issues, such as gay marriage. “We have people who say states have the right to pass gay marriage. I say, ‘No, they do not.’ ” The line was among his few remarks that drew applause, but he offered it without citing Perry as its target.

But when the Texas governor was on stage, he looked out at Santorum and said, “It’s one of the places where Rick and I do disagree. I do believe in the 10th Amendment.”

Asked about Perry’s comment, Santorum took a shot: “This is the guy who was talking about secession for Texas,” he told RCP.

As this flap reveals, there will be plenty for the other candidates to pick at where Perry is concerned. But the newest GOP contender showed that he’s ready to rumble and won’t shrink from direct contrasts.

Before Perry took the stage, reporters mobbed him for more than 20 minutes as he made his way through the crowd. He called out to Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, who was in the audience, several times and worked responses from the crowd into his speech with ease.

By contrast, Bachmann kept the crowd waiting as she entered and then stayed on stage after she spoke, letting well-wishers come to her. She began her remarks by complaining that the media were too noisy, and afterward took three questions from the press with her campaign bus as the backdrop.

Although Perry was dressed in a suit, he localized his remarks and made certain to approach Grassley, whom Perry had phoned in July to discuss the race.

“Welcome to Iowa,” Grassley then told him as they shook hands.

“Trust me, I’ll be here often,” Perry answered the senator.

Grassley told reporters that Perry’s late entry in the race won’t be held against him. But going forward, Grassley said, “We expect to see him.”

Perry has a three-day swing planned for the Hawkeye State, where he’ll spend several hours touring the state fair on Monday before making appearances in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Monday’s events appear designed simply to introduce him to the state, but by Tuesday he’ll pivot hard to business-focused events to stress his message of economic recovery. He’ll tour the D.C. Taylor Co.’s roofing business in Cedar Rapids; host a roundtable discussion with business leaders in Dubuque; and then have his photo taken at “the World’s Largest Truckstop,” the Iowa 80 Group’s location in Walcott -- a must for presidential candidates and a sign that Perry intends to make up for lost time quickly.

Still some of Grassley’s comments underscore the climb Perry has ahead of him -- after the initial buzz wears off -- in order to catch up with the candidates who have been campaigning much longer.

Grassley said he won’t be leaning toward an endorsement of any candidate until October, but part of his decision will be contingent upon how Perry performs over the next few months.

Other than leading job growth numbers in Texas on Perry’s watch, Grassley said, “I don’t know anything about Governor Perry.”

“I want to know what he’s going to do about turning this economy around,” he said, adding that front-runner Mitt Romney also hasn’t explained what he would do “on a concentrated enough basis yet.”

Perry has only been a candidate for two days, but he doesn’t think he needs much practice to get going. Asked how his foray on the presidential campaign trail has been so far, he answered, “It’s just like doing it back in Texas – only a few more cameras.”

Erin McPike is a national political reporter for RealClearPolitics. She can be reached at emcpike@realclearpolitics.com.