What do you know? Matt Dowd actually said something I agree with on one of these Sunday bobblehead shows. While discussing Texas Gov. Rick Perry's recent entry into the Republican presidential primary race, Dowd said two things I agree with about Rick Perry: One, I think it would be unwise for anyone to underestimate him. And two, he's going to have trouble in the general election because he sounds too much like George W. Bush.
I think he's going to have trouble if he gets the nomination for other reasons that Dowd did not mention here as well. Sounding too much like Bush might be the least of his problems. The Texas Democratic Party has a host of other reasons he may not fair too well in the general election here -- Meet Rick Perry.
Lots of good stuff there on Perry's record as Governor of Texas, so go check it out, but here's a taste.
Transcript of Dowd's remarks from ABC News:
TAPPER: You -- you followed his career in Texas for a long -- probably longer than you want to admit.
DOWD: Twenty-five years. Twenty-five years. I took his filing when he was a Democrat, ran as a Democrat at the Texas Democratic Party.
This guy is an incredible campaigner. And for me, having watched George Bush and having worked for George Bush and having known Rick Perry, he is actually a better campaigner at this point than George Bush was. Now, part of his problem is, he sounds a lot like George Bush. He looks like a president, though, if you look at the picture, but he sounds and has similar mannerisms to George Bush. I don't think that's as much of a problem in the Republican primary; it could be a problem in the general election. But don't underestimate this guy. This guy took apart an incumbent Republican U.S. senator who had an 85 percent approval rating and beat her by 20 points in the primary by being tea party before tea party became cool.
And on a final note to Matt Dowd, being part of that astroturf "tea party" ain't exactly looking so "cool" right now. Their disapproval numbers are climbing after this debt ceiling debacle and I suspect they're going to go higher as they continue to prove themselves to anyone who is paying attention as not having the interests of working Americans at heart. And as Karoli already noted here, it seems they're having a bit of a problem with attendance at some of their rallies as well.