Perry readies his bag of tricky tricks for US Presidential race

Muaaa-ha ha ha ha ha !!

No doubt Ol' Rick Perry is already surveying just what kind of dirty tricks to include in his political arsenal as he readies to officially announce his candidacy for President of the United States. There's a scary thought: Rick Perry and US President in the same sentence. Here's a couple of examples of the kinds of dirty tricks Perry has relied on to hold on the Texas Governorship longer than any one else in history.

Excerpted from today's The Wall Street Journal:

Despite being outspent nearly 3-to-1, he obliterated the Laredo multimillionaire and political newcomer Tony Sanchez by connecting a Mexican drug lord to a savings and loan Mr. Sanchez owned in the 1980s. A week before the vote, Mr. Perry ran an ad essentially blaming Mr. Sanchez for the killing of a drug-enforcement agent by the drug lord.

Federal investigators had cleared Mr. Sanchez of wrongdoing involving the bank 14 years earlier, finding that the drug lord laundered money at the bank but that Mr. Sanchez had no knowledge of it.

Mr. Perry's most telling performance, especially as an indication of the presidential nomination contest ahead, came when he crushed fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison in last year's gubernatorial primary. Going into the race, polls showed Sen. Hutchison to be by far the most popular politician in Texas. She won endorsements from most of the state's GOP royalty, including former President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of State James Baker.

But Mr. Perry turned the race into a rout. Playing off the senator's history of securing earmarks and her vote for the bank bailout in September 2008, Perry campaign aides replayed ads constantly on TV showing her vote for the bailout in gruesome slow motion, with the refrain: "Mrs. Hutchison votes aye."

Choices made by Mr. Perry in the 2010 general election for governor, on the other hand, may highlight some of the weaknesses he will bring to a bid for the White House.