Does Perry have a chance in the New Hampshire primaries? He certainly seems to think so. But of course, candidates have to talk a good game.
But Perry is way behind Romney in New Hampshire right now. New Hampshire tends to be regionally loyal, and it doesn’t seem to like Texans much—George W. Bush lost there in the 2000 primary to a John McCain who “kicked his butt.” Ironically, although New Hampshire went for Hillary rather than Obama during the 2008 primary, at election time in 2008 when New Hampshirites finally had a chance to vote for McCain for president they failed to do so, going for Obama over McCain with a 9.6% margin of victory.
I will now go out on a limb and make a prediction that Perry will lose to Romney in NH, but like Bill Clinton before him (who lost there to Tsongas in 1992), he will frame his second-place finish as a win of sorts—although I doubt he’ll use the phrase “comeback kid.” And that’s the end of my predictions for the moment.
Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely 
September 8th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Perry is supposed to be a hell of a grass roots campaigner, one that, in this instance, flies under the radar until election time. I’ll take the bet. Perry will win N.H. if Palin is not in the race.
September 8th, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Clinton lost NH to Tsongas, not Dukakis.
September 8th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Kustie the Klown: of course you are correct! Not only do I well know that, I’ve written about it, since Tsongas was a personal favorite of mine.
For some reason I mixed up the names of Democratic politicians with Greek names ending in “s” from Massachusetts. I will fix it, thanks.
September 8th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
The treatment Perry is getting from the frost bitten set is kind of amusing. Bet they’re all oh so tolerant..
September 9th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Sounds like New Hampshire is a pretty reliable contra-indicator.
And, in any case, who actually cares what NH thinks? Rhode Island is the key state to win.
September 9th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
So it’s OK if Mittens wins NH?
The man is another Obama, in that he believes he deserves the Presidency. I hope he fails. But maybe NH has been infected with the VT (and, indeed, the greater New England) virus to vote stupid. We shall see.
I was at a small meeting with Mitt’s brother, and his campaign mgr, over a year ago. They were startled by our vehemence, but have learned nothing.
September 9th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
“The man is another Obama, in that he believes he deserves the Presidency. I hope he fails. But maybe NH has been infected with the VT (and, indeed, the greater New England) virus to vote stupid. We shall see.”
I agree, Romney is 100% RINO and Bloomberg would be his ideal running mate. As I understand the situation from a friend in NH its been infected by the Massachusetts virus; MA refugees who flee high taxes in MA but vote for the same sort of politicos they voted for in MA who created the circumstances they wanted to escape.