LITTLE ROCK — You might recall that Texas Governor Rick Perry had some trouble getting people to vote for him when he was running for president. And now that he’s not running, he is having some trouble getting people to stop voting for him for president.
I can understand why people vote. I can understand why people don’t vote. I can’t understand why people vote for ex-candidates. I want people to stop doing that. Ex-candidate Perry, who has amassed more votes since dropping out than he did while running, also wants people to stop doing that.
Our governor got 14,321 votes before he dropped out Jan. 19, two days before the South Carolina primary. Since bailing out, Perry’s picked up 39,435 votes.
I’m not ridiculing Perry for getting more votes as an ex-candidate than he did as a candidate. This happened because he was on the ballot in 17 states that have had contests since he dropped out after running in two. (And let’s nod to the possibility that a relative handful of the post-dropout votes were early votes cast before Perry shut down his campaign. But there can’t be many of those.)
I am, however, ridiculing people who vote for dropouts. What, a nation (or one of its columnists) must ask, is the deal?
Perry joked about it Saturday in his stand-up routine at the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington. “Officially, I’ve only suspended my campaign. I never really quit. So technically, I’m still in the race, except I can go home and relax and still do about as well.”
Maybe news travels slowly in some jurisdictions. Maybe some voters somewhere didn’t get the word about Perry’s bailout. (I told you we still need newspapers.)
Overall, Perry’s 53,756 votes represent about half of 1 percent of all votes cast so far in GOP presidential contests, putting him in second place among dropouts behind Jon Huntsman’s 68,173 votes and ahead of Michele Bachmann’s 23,092. Herman Cain, who bailed out prior to any contests, has 13,633.
Though the percentages are minuscule, I’m fascinated that thousands of Americans decided voting for Perry was the thing to do even after he dropped out. I guess it’s possible these voters still believe Perry is the best Republican for the job. (Another Perry Gridiron line: “The weakest Republican field in history and they kicked my butt.”)
Additional questions about Perry voters: Are they unmoved by Perry’s endorsement of Newt Gingrich, something Perry announced the day he dropped out? Wouldn’t Perry prefer these folks to vote for Gingrich, who remains in the race (for a reason that escapes me just now)?
Voters: Can’t run a democracy when they don’t show up, and can’t figure out what the heck they’re thinking when they do.
So, one last time, let’s make this clear: Rick Perry no longer is a candidate for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Please share this information with friends and loved ones you might have in states with primaries and caucuses to come.
No need to do that here in Texas. Perry has withdrawn from the May 29 ballot, which will include eight GOP contenders, including the four real and sort-of-real ones (Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Gingrich and Ron Paul), two dropouts (Bachmann and Huntsman), former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer and John Davis of Grand Junction, Colo., whose campaign slogan is “Let’s Fix America” and whose campaign photo shows him wielding a very large red, white and blue wrench.
“I don’t look like a president,” Davis says on his website. “I don’t talk like a president and I don’t act like a president, but I do have what it takes to be a president.” (Apparently, a very large red, white and blue wrench is among the things it takes to be a president.)
Attention, people of America: Please stop voting for Rick Perry for president. He’s the ex-candidate, and he’s authorized this message.
“They should indeed” stop voting for Perry, Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for the ex-candidate, told me. “He is not a candidate for president.”
Sullivan said it’s been tough to stamp out all vestiges of the Perry campaign. A few weeks ago, there was a guy still trying to get folks to vote for Perry.
“We had someone call him and say thanks, but no thanks,” Sullivan said.
Perry wants folks to back “a candidate who can emerge as the conservative alternative,” Sullivan said. For Perry, that’s Gingrich.
“The governor hopes that folks will vote for viable, active candidates,” Sullivan said. “That does not include him.”
It would not reflect well on our democracy if Perry had to use some of his leftover campaign money to run Don’t-vote-for-me ads.
Editorial, Pages 14 on 03/30/2012