Perry Shifts Focus From GOP Rivals to Obama
DYERSVILLE, Iowa – At his third campaign stop of the day on Monday, Rick Perry dropped his attacks on fellow candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich and instead chose to take aim at his other main opponent -- President Obama.
“President Obama ran a great campaign, but his campaign was on hope and change, and there weren’t a lot of details,” the Texas governor said to a group of about 80 voters at the Country Junction restaurant here. “We sure got some change, I’ll agree there. But the change we got, it’s been destructive to our country.”
He then repeated a line borrowed from Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.: “Let me just ask you this: are you better off today than you were 4 trillion dollars ago?” Perry first posed the question at a hybrid seed plant in Johnston, Iowa in early November, but hasn’t trotted it out since then.
After he shook hands with supporters, Perry made his way over to the counter to buy a coconut pie from the owner, where he was clearly aware of the five cameras following his every move. “Come over here,” Perry said, lifting up the pie and bringing it around the counter. “You’re fixing to be on national TV,” he said, before -- with a little help -- naming the restaurant and its location.
“I would tell you the phone number, but I don’t know it,” he quipped.
At a subsequent event in Dubuque, Perry also attacked the president's energy policies.
"We have a president who wants to force this country into green sources of energy regardless of the cost," Perry said. He has spent plenty of time during the bus tour talking about the Keystone XL pipeline decision and accusing the president of holding up energy production to appease environmental groups ahead of the 2012 election.
