DES MOINES — Texas Governor Rick Perry plans to be in Iowa next Tuesday, when President Obama visits the state, in hopes of establishing a one-to-one contrast between one of the nation’s most successful governors and an incumbent president sliding in the polls.
Perry announced this week that he plans to come to Iowa on Sunday, the day after the Ames Republican Straw Poll. Perry’s motive for coming is at least two-fold. One, he obviously wants to include Iowa in his first trip as a semi-official candidate; Perry reportedly plans to “make clear” his intention to run during an appearance in South Carolina on Saturday.
The other reason Perry is coming to Iowa Sunday is to repair some of the damage he has done by making his announcement in South Carolina at the same time that Iowa Republicans are gathering in Ames for the long-anticipated GOP straw poll. Word that Perry would plan a big event conflicting with the straw poll upset many Iowa Republicans, who suspected that Perry was trying to upstage a key moment for GOP activists in the state. Iowa Republicans say the Perry camp was surprised by the intensity of the blowback they received from Iowa after the South Carolina speech was announced. Coming to Iowa the next day, Sunday, will help blunt some of the negative impact.
What still has not been announced is that Perry intends to stay in Iowa for a while, visiting the State Fair on Monday and then planning an event Tuesday to play off Obama’s visit to Peosta, Iowa as part of the president’s three-day bus tour highlighting economic issues. Obama will host an event that’s being called a “White House Rural Economic Forum” at Northeast Iowa Community College.
Perry may have the field much to himself, at least among major Republican candidates. Rep. Michele Bachmann is scheduled to be in South Carolina on Tuesday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won’t be in Iowa, either. And former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has not yet decided which days he’ll be in Iowa next week. If they’re all away, Perry’s headline-grabbing move on Saturday could be matched by his challenge to Obama on Tuesday.
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