On Monday, Governor Rick Perry (R-Texas) announced he would not seek a fourth term as chief executive of the Lone Star State, saying the time had come “to pass on the mantle of leadership.”
It took the liberal media roughly 30 minutes to begin what will no doubt be an onslaught against the former presidential candidate, with the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza offering all the reasons why Perry “shouldn’t run for president again.”
Cillizza, like many in the media through Monday afternoon, couldn’t help but bring up the governor’s now-infamous debate gaffes from the 2012 campaign, including “his inability to recall the third federal agency he would eliminate if elected president.” The Post reporter blasted the 2012 Republican presidential field as “one of the weakest in recent memory” and Perry as “an unsteady presence on the campaign trail.”
The media’s assault on Perry is nothing new. In the last few weeks, journalists have attacked the Texas governor for getting “very personal” with pro-choice state senator Wendy Davis.
Cillizza almost gleefully noted that “the Perry band has broken up,” citing members of the governor’s “inner circle” leaving his political team. He closed with a remark on the all-important element of timing in politics:
The timing in 2012 lined up perfectly for Perry — and he still swung and missed. That’s a hard lesson but one Perry would do well to remember as he mulls his next political move.
Cillizza’s claims regarding Perry’s timing are debatable, given that the thrice-elected Texas governor had just come off back surgery and was the last major candidate to enter the race when he announced back in August 2011.
The 2:50 p.m. post came mere hours after the reporter shrugged his shoulders at former New York governor Elliot Spitzer’s (D) announcement that he would seek election as New York City’s next comptroller:
The real question as it relates to Spitzer is whether he can win. The answer, according to interviews with a handful of New York City political consultant types, is quite clearly “yes.”
Then again, this kind of rhetoric is unsurprising coming from Cillizza. This is the same “reporter” who confessed he couldn’t “get enough” of Hillary Clinton in February. He did not offer a list of reasons she should avoid another presidential bid.
Cillizza also demanded Mitt Romney kowtow to the liberal media immediately after his nomination for president in 2012.
Read Cillizza’s full post here.
