ATLANTIC, Iowa — There are only a few things voters here say they know about Rick Perry.
They know he’s been governor for a while.
As the race for the GOP presidential nomination continues, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney battle to lead the crowded field of candidates.
They know Texas is a big state with a lot of jobs.
They know Perry has a reputation for being brash and talking frankly.
And, after casting about for just the right Republican to take on President Obama, they know, for now, that he may be the one.
“I can’t quite explain it,” said Steve Bennett, 59, who sized up Perry the other night over a plate of roasted turkey and green beans. “He’s thick-skinned, he’s already run a big state. Whatever his beliefs are, which I don’t know yet, I think he actually believes them and has convictions. He’s the only one who can sit with Obama at the debate — when Obama’s in full campaign mode he’ll be tough to beat — and maybe beat him.”
So it is that Republican voters, at least those Iowans who took stock of Perry this week, are turning conventional wisdom on its head.
The thinking goes that the more measured and moderate Mitt Romney can appeal to a broader swath of independent voters. But Republicans here say it’s Perry who can best challenge Obama, expose him for the fraud they believe the president to be. They see Perry’s fed-up-with-Washington message as theirs and one that can take him straight to the White House.
As Perry swooped through five cities across Iowa this week, hastening to make a good first impression after his late entry into the race, hundreds of Republicans turned out to see the Texan who has rocketed to the top of the polls. Many came with an idea of who Perry might be.
Carole Doane, 55, who is unemployed, arrived at a Newton coffee shop Friday morning hoping to see another Ronald Reagan — “sunny and uplifting and personable and dignified, somebody who’s experienced and has humility.”
Joel Shields, 68, a pharmacist, wanted to see someone who stands by what he believes. “I’m going to hear him, and when he’s done, I’m going to grab him and say, ‘Do you really believe all those things? Oh, and let’s see your tongue. Is it forked?’ ”
Mike Jones, 67, a retired municipal worker, wanted to see someone with the intensity to take on the Washington establishment — someone “who’s not afraid of a fight.”
By the time Perry had arrived at the coffee shop, shook nearly everyone’s hand, kneeled down to whisper in a few ears and delivered his riff about the rebirth of freedom — “There is nothing ailing America that can’t be cured with a rebirth of freedom,” he said — these voters found what he or she had come looking for.
“I think he’s the one,” Jones said. “He’s very personable, he’s very sincere. He looked like the real deal to me. He just has this genuine attitude, he has the energy and intensity it takes to get it done.”
Republican strategists are drawing some parallels to Obama’s campaign.
“Many voters in 2008 had no idea what Barack Obama actually believed or had proposed. They liked the idea of Obama. Same may be largely true with Rick Perry,” said GOP strategist Mark McKinnon, who advised George W. Bush’s and John McCain’s presidential campaigns.
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