Rick's Gaffe Americain

Bush without the brains or speaking abilitification.

Man, that was short lived.

Rick Perry is officially road kill underneath the GOP Presidential Clown Car.  He needed to do something, anything, to show that he was not a complete imbecile.  The Press is desperate for a storyline that does not involve anointing Multiple Choice Mitt as GOP nominee.  Perry has the institutional clout that Cain and Bachmann do not.  He can bring the rain with fundraising.  He has a long record of holding elected office, as opposed to Mittens who has a long record of losing elections.

And it turns out Perry can't even close a screen door.

One of my favorite James Carville quotes is that when it comes to candidates, "Democrats have to fall in love, Republicans just have to fall in line."  Not a lot of the GOP faithful liked John McCain a whole bunch because he once had a beer with Ted Kennedy and passed a bill with Russ Feingold.  But, they lined up behind him when the time came.  McCain and Dole and Bush Patria and Reagan all were the "runner's up" due to be anointed in the next race, just like Mittens.  So maybe it will be Romney after all.

But...

Four years ago, McCain was running third and his campaign was dead in the water.  Four years ago, Obama trailed Clinton badly and was vying with Edwards for second place.  It was going to be Giuliani vs Clinton, remember?

How'd that turn out?

Because the GOP has changed its nominating process from winner take all to proportional allocation of delegates, it will be tough for another "Mr. 30%" to cruise to the nomination the way McCain did in 2008.

The problem is that the Anti-Romney hasn't emerged yet.  Cain?  Paul?  Maybe.  Or maybe a candidate like Santorum wins Iowa and is suddenly propelled forward.  Maybe Perry's skills as a retail campaigner give him a win in Iowa that he can carry into Nevada or South Carolina.

But looking at the complete inability of the Non-Romneys to really land a blow on Romney himself, their inability to take his CONSIDERABLE record of changing his positions based on the political wind and use that as a cudgel against him, you have to wonder if he will just glide right along until the others burn out, Perry-style.

We can indulge in giddy fantasies of a brokered convention, I guess, but that's not going to be very likely.  There are no more "white knights" waiting in the wings to file before Halloween.

So either Cain or Paul or Santorum or even Perry makes this interesting, or Romney creeps along - no one's first choice in the GOP field - and as usual, the Republicans fall in line.