Six Weeks After Breakout Entry into GOP Race, Rick Perry Under Pressure to Step Up His Game

At LAT, "Perry under pressure after debate stumbles."

This section on immigration is especially telling:

Perry's stance on immigration is prompting fresh doubts, in some GOP quarters, about his ability to translate his electoral success in Texas to the national level.

Perry has "a surprisingly tin ear" on the immigration issue, said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican strategist who is unaligned in the presidential contest.

To most Republicans, denying tuition subsidies to illegal immigrants "is a question of fairness," said Fabrizio. He added that Perry, in portraying his critics as heartless, is making Republican voters wonder whether he shares their values.

The issue also has particular salience in Florida, the biggest early state on the GOP calendar, where Republican Rick Scott's victory in last year's gubernatorial election turned in part on his advocacy of an Arizona-style policy. Al Cardenas, a prominent Florida Republican with close ties to former Gov. Jeb Bush, was booed at a recent tea party event in Tampa when he spoke favorably about immigration.

The issue also strikes a chord with primary voters in key states such as Iowa, South Carolina and Wisconsin, Fabrizio said.

In interviews, Perry supporters in Florida, including those who disagree with his immigration stance, said the issue wasn't enough to make them abandon him.

State Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera of Miami, the Republican leader of the Florida House, stopped short of endorsing a Texas-style tuition plan but said immigration wouldn't be "a decisive factor" in the primary.

"The most important issue in the primary is jobs and the economy," said Lopez-Cantera, a Perry supporter who represents Little Havana.

But Charlie Gerow, a Republican consultant from Harrisburg, Pa., said initial excitement over Perry's entry into the 2012 race had entered a new phase.

"People were looking for something different," he said. "Now it's a question of what [Perry's candidacy] is going to look like when it's examined under the microscope."

Perry's going to continue to get hammered on immigraton, and yeah, we're in a new phase alright. See the St. Petersburg Times, "Herman Cain wins Presidency 5 straw poll" (at Memorandum). Also at The Other McCain, "ORLANDO GOP STRAW POLL RESULTS UPDATE: Herman Cain Beats Rick Perry."

Straws polls aren't terribly significant, although in the case of Rick Perry, his entry into the race in August wiped out Michele Bachmann's bounce coming out of Ames. So, there's considerable insider interest on how these events shake up expectations and shift loyalties among supporters and potential delegates. And kudos to Herman Cain. The guy's a no nonsense candidate. Perhaps the results of the Orlando straw poll will help him expand his support heading into the Florida primary, which is scheduled for ... well, it's still unscheduled, but is normally held early, and is one of the initial make-or-break contests. John McCain pretty much sealed the nomination by winning Florida in 2008.