Rick Perry Campaigns as Presumptive GOP Nominee

Look, things are going really well for Governor Perry, but he's still facing formidable candidates in the primaries. Watching the news on this reminded me of Hillary Clinton, who seemed all but assured the Democrat nomination in 2008. She campaigned on an inevitability platform as if she was a political heiress to the party's throne. And while I know Obama's been going after Perry in interviews, the media honeymoon coming out of Iowa won't last too much longer and pretty soon the campaign will focus on who's the best Republican in the race. Perry's looking good, but it's the voters who'll make the pick, and Michelle Bachmann's blazing in Iowa and that's not likely to fade too much between now and the caucuses. And here's this at KXAN Austin News, "Perry trying cast himself as nominee."

I remember watching Hillary Clinton in a couple of the Democrat debates in 2008 and it was like worker bees swarming around a queen. This year on the GOP side, Romney's been so far getting those kinds of benefits, and he's not going to give up the mantle of frontrunner so easily. So, stayed tuned. The Republican race is up for some bloodletting before much longer.

See New Hampshire Journal, "Poll: Romney rocks, Perry pops, Bachmann doesn’t bounce" (via Memeorandum).

RELATED: At The Hill, "GOP torn over whether Romney or Perry can best make case against Obama."