What Really Killed Perry's Campaign?

Written by - Mark McKinnon
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/19/4-flaws-that-sank-rick-perry-s-presidential-campaign.html

The four flaws that killed Texas Governor Rick Perry’s campaign were the lack of preparation, communication, engagement and recovery. Perry was expected to be a top contender in the campaign with an amazing track record of creating an economic model for Texas that opened up one million jobs among other benefits. Perry made the mistake of signing on for his campaign late in the calendar, and then signing up for multiple debates that he was horribly unprepared for. He wasted time debating on the state tuition policy for illegal immigrant students and a cancer preventing vaccine instead of discussing his successes as governor of Texas. His performance in the debates proved that he would never be able to out debate Obama. Along with his poor debate skills, Perry’s campaign communications were definitely more defensive than offensive. Perry also slacked considerably when it came to communicating with supporters. He should have done more to involve conservative bloggers and voters who were hooked to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. If Perry had been able to communicate effectively with these people, he would’ve been able to gain more supporters, and possibly surge ahead in the polls. Lack of communication and preparation led to defensive messaging. Perry’s campaign took a downward spiral from which he was not able to recover. His inability to recover from small mistakes such as these show that he probably wasn’t worthy of being President either, a job which required a larger responsibility he wouldn’t have been able to handle. In the political arena, this narrows the remaining Republican candidates down to four. It makes one wonder, where will the Perry supporters turn to? Will they immediately flock to Romney, who is in the front with caucus wins under his belt? How will the remaining candidates try to win over a new crowd of voters who are in need of someone different to support? Republican candidates who are not in the front of the polls are beginning to drop like flies. Finally, it brings up the question of who will be the next to drop out. Is there even any competition anymore? The upcoming caucuses and primaries will soon show American Republicans the results they have been waiting for.