Randi Rhodes: Mrs. Perry & Herman Rising

Rick Perry’s wife, Anita, is out on the campaign trail defending Perry’s record on job creation—by admitting they’re mostly minimum wage jobs. With defenders like her, who needs critics? Anita said “I’m not going to tell you they’re all high-paying jobs, but they’re a job, even if they’re a minimum wage job. And that’s what people are hungry for.” OK, not exactly bumper-sticker material. People are hungry for minimum wage jobs! And after they get them, chances are, they will still be hungry! If people are hungry for minimum wage jobs, that’s mostly a function of having kept people hungry for long enough that they are desperate. In other words, the conservative economic plan is working.

Anita Perry works at a non-profit organization that receives almost all of their donations from businesses that support Perry or do business with him. So it’s no wonder Anita Perry would defend her husband’s record on jobs as governor—he certainly used his position to set her up in a cushy job. Anita Perry makes $60,000 in her position with the non-profit, basically just accepting money from businesses and individuals who want something from Rick Perry. Now that’s the kind of job people are hungry for. Unscrupulous people, at least.

According to a Fox News poll, Perry, Romney, and Cain are now the top tier of the GOP presidential candidates. Keep in mind, that is the “top tier” on a very, very low set of risers. Rick Perry dropped from the lead with 29 percent just a month ago, to only 19 percent now. That’s such a classic late-summer collapse that Perry may be named an honorary member of the Boston Red Sox. Meanwhile, Herman “Herb” Cain’s support has almost tripled in the last month. People are going to start paying attention to him—and that means that his support is going to collapse in the next month. The candidate who is surging ahead has nothing on his resume except being the head of Godfather’s Pizza. That fits—choosing Herman Cain is like giving up on what to fix for dinner and just ordering pizza. And Mitt Romney’s level of support remained virtually the same at 23 percent. Those are the people who have already given up. For those Republicans, Mitt Romney is just something they realize is going to inevitably happen to them, like old age and death.

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