Playbook 2012 by Mike Allen Read Free Book Online Page B

low-key, even humble way. The political operative, a Forbes adviser, observed the mating dance between Perry and his target: “Typically, when it’s not going well, [Forbes] won’t say much. He kind of backs off, will talk in more generalities. Here he spoke a lot, asked a lot of questions, and then got into very minute detail. When he gets into the details, then you know he’s got him. And it wasn’t on the tax reform. In this case it happened to be on monetary policy and the gold standard versus a benchmark or basket of commodities. They were really getting into it, and it was like, ‘Oh God, he’s got him.’ ” Perry’s flat tax plan, announced a month later, was heavily influenced by Forbes.
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    Perry was not lazy, exactly. He could be very substantive when he had to be. But by the standards of modern presidential campaigning, he was a little too laid-back. Perry could be a lot of fun on the plane, recalled the fundraiser. He would crack jokes (“bad jokes … there was one about the fraternity and the animal”) and tell stories and look at family pictures on his iPad. His staff would “do silly things on the plane with him, like ask him who he thought was more attractive, Angelina Jolie or Jennifer Aniston. He said Angelina Jolie was evil, so he voted for Jennifer Aniston.” Perry also “prayed a lot.” The one thing he didn’t seem to do much of was work. The fundraiser never saw him read the paper or newspaper clips. Debate prep was relaxed, almost offhand. The fundraiser recalled one session when Perry and Carney discussed the flaws in “Race to the Top,” President Obama’s education reform plan:
    “Carney said to the governor, Are you good on Race to the Top? And he said, Yeah, I think so, and then he launched into what would be his answer, and Carney suggested a tweak or [would] point this out. The governor tried it again and gave an answer, and they carried on about their day. That was the five minutes of debate prep that day.”
    The Perry campaign had come into Orlando confident that the candidate would win the state GOP straw poll scheduled two days after the debate. At the debate, sponsored by Google and Fox at a giant arena near Walt Disney World, the fundraiser sat behind a group of Florida politicians and moneymen invited to join Anita Perry, the governor’s wife, near the front. After a few of Perry’s rambling answers, the fundraiser noted that Dean Cannon, the Speaker of the Florida House, was hanging his head. The fundraiser tried to cheer louder for Perry, “trying to make up for this, like his answers were actually good.”
    Perry, who has long suffered from a bad back, underwent serious back surgery six weeks before he announced his campaign—spinal fusion and nerve decompression, including aninjection of his own adult stem cells. As the campaign launched, he was suffering excruciating back pain. Medication could have contributed to some of his goofy on-camera lapses, and may have been part of the reason for a giggly speech in New Hampshire that went viral when an opponent posted an edited video making him look drunk. (When asked about pain medication and its possible effect on his performance, Perry told a
San Francisco Chronicle
reporter, “No. I have had spine surgery on the first of July, but you know, I ran this morning. I would’ve taken you out. It’s a beautiful run down this river.” One Perry official said, “What do you mean, ‘What about meds?’ He jogs three miles, four days a week. People who have back problems don’t take medication and jog three miles every four days.”)
    A former campaign aide recalled: “Look, the guy is in extreme back pain all the time, and everybody could see that [at the disastrous debate in Orlando]. It’s a real physical problem for him.” For photo opportunities at fundraisers, aides were allowed to schedule just fifty “clicks” (individual photos with donors), rather than the seventy-five to