We can’t decide whether he’s doing Paul Lynde, Charles Nelson Reilly, Wayland Flowers, or Rip Taylor.

[via Political Wire]

Mrs. Perry on Mr. Perry: “He is the only true conservative — well, there are some true conservatives. And they’re there for good reasons. And they may feel like God called them too. But I truly feel like we are here for that purpose.” [MSNBC, via Political Wire]

Enough whispers! Let’s finally put this on the folding table:

Dr. Robert Jeffress, a Dallas pastor and leader of the Southern Baptist Convention introduced Rick Perry before a nearly full crowd at the Values Voter Summit in Washington Friday.

He also gave Perry his formal endorsement. After Perry’s speech, Jeffress expounded to reporters about his belief (and the formal position of the SBC) that Mormonism is “a cult.”

Whoops! Call out the fire brigade!

Read more »

Playing off one of the most delightful lines from Monday night’s debate — “If you’re saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I’m offended” — WaPo digs in:

Perry’s gubernatorial campaign, for example, received nearly $30,000 from the drugmaker since 2000, most of it prior to his decision in 2007 to order young girls to obtain Merck’s vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV.

Merck has also given more than $355,000 in donations to the Republican Governors Association since 2006, which was the year that Perry began to play a prominent role in the Washington-based group, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Perry served as chairman of the RGA in 2008 and again this year until he decided to run for president. The group also ranks among Perry’s biggest donors, giving the Texas governor’s campaign at least $4 million over the past five years, according to Texans for Public Justice.

So now we know the nature of Perry’s offense: He’s not a whore — he’s an escort.

Perry has deep financial ties to maker of HPV vaccine [WaPo, via Political Wire]

“No Ponzi scheme in the history of the world has ever lasted 75 years. Ponzi schemes depend on garnering an ever-increasing pool of new investors to pay out returns to prior investors. When the potential pool of new investors runs dry, they collapse. This will occur when the scheme runs up against the natural limits of its recruitment strategy; in the ultimate case, it can’t keep going past the point where the entire population is already subscribed.” [The Economist, via Daring Fireball]

Here is how this photo is being pitched:

During the Sept. 7 Republican debate, Ron Paul clashed with fellow Texan Rick Perry once again.

This time, things got physical.

During a commercial break, Perry walked up to Paul’s podium, physically grabbed Paul’s wrist, and pointed at Paul’s face with his other hand.

We’re not sure whether it’s worth Paultards getting upset over. Then again, we’d love to see the fallout from the same shot with Barack Obama on the receiving end.

Ron Paul Debate: Rick Perry Physically Grabs Him, Points at His Face [International Business Times]

“This morning on ABC, Karl Rove said Rick Perry’s extreme views on Social Security — detailed in his book “Fed Up!” — are ‘toxic’ both in the Republican primary and the general election. Rove also dismissed Perry’s response thus far as ‘inadequate.'” [ThinkProgress] Presuming Perry shows up, our GOP Debate open thread starts at 7:45pm ET.