Perry drops out

1 down, 16 more to go. Former (and longest serving) Governor of Texas, Rick Perry has suspended his campaign for the Presidency on Friday. While there have been rumours of financial troubles and lack of enthusiasm in the polls and rallies, it still comes as somewhat of a shock, due to it being so early in the race.

Perry was not doing well in the polls, and failed to reach the top tier debate in August, but was expected to attend the next debate in 4 days time in California. His campaign has been saying that this debate will be different, and with Carly Fiorina gone, Perry could outshine the other candidates, and gain traction. That will not happen now.

Governor Perry was once the frontrunner in the 2012 race, but eventually had to drop out due to several big mistakes. Most famously, he forgot the name of an agency he wanted to scrap during one of the debates. He was never able to recover, and endorsed Mitt Romney.

After the disaster of 2012, he returned to being Governor, and prepped himself on policy issues and traveled the country. He began to lay the foundations of his next campaign, and it looked good for a while. 

But by 2015 he was overshadowed. There were 16 other candidates, including several other Governors, a Bush, an outspoken Donald Trump and few other political outsiders. There was nothing that set Perry aside. Not even his glasses. Even in Texas he was outdone by Senator Ted Cruz. That was an early warning sign. 

Perry was not recognisable, people failed to remember him, and he gained no traction. And than his money troubles began, and slowly had to cut back on staff in the early voting states. But there was still hope because he had a sizeable super PAC. Well his hopes are over for now. And probably for forever too, but Perry should never be underestimated. 

It is a shame though, because on paper he looks great. He has one of the best credentials. He successfully led Texas for 15 years, which is the 11th biggest economy in the world. He was trusted on border and Mexico related issues, immigration, foreign policy and economy. But somehow he just failed to lift off this time around. He did however made a graceful exit from the race, and he should be applauded and respected for that. Among many other things. Even most other candidates praised him. And that is rare.

His exit from the race will change up a few things. First, there will be one less candidate, but 16 is still a lot. Senator Ted Cruz will likely receive a boost, as now he will be able to get the full backing of Texas. Not just the people, but the dollars. And Texas is rich. Cruz has been doing really well lately but this will help him even more. Especially is Perry endorses him. He hasn't yet endorsed anyone, but it will likely to be either Cruz or Bush, under whose brother he served in Texas. 

His exit will also make the second tier debate even more interesting, and crucial for the candidates. There will now be only four participants: Pataki, Jindal, Graham and Santorum. We now expect Jindal to perform the best at that debate. 

Perry did exit the race, but we must thank him for entering it, because he raised its profile, and brought a lot of expertise with him. 

May the odds now be in favour of the others. 

This is an original material of Finchley 1959.