It is distracting from the real issues, but what is interesting is how Perry has bungled the response.
Here is the response from Ray Sullivan, campaign spokesman:
“Perry’s father painted over offensive language on a rock soon after leasing the 1,000-acre parcel in the early 1980s. When Governor Perry was party to the hunting lease from 1997 to 2007, the property was described as northern pasture. He has not been to the property since 2006.”
When first questioned Perry said that his dad painted over the rock during the July 4th holiday in 1983 and that he was not there to see it. (This makes it seem as if he had never personally seen the rock.) In follow up questions he said it was painted over in either 1983 or 1984 in response to his seeing the rock and being upset with the message on it. He then asked his folks to paint over it.
“My mother and father went to the lease and painted the rock in either 1983 or 1984,” Perry wrote. “This occurred after I paid a visit to the property with a friend and saw the rock with the offensive word. After my visit I called my folks and mentioned it to them, and they painted it over during their next visit.”
So he changed his story. He should have offered no further comments. Furthermore, they try to weasel out of any association with the rock by saying:
Sullivan also specified that the family has never “owned, controlled or managed” the property.
C'mon! Your family has leased this property since 1983! Technically you don't own it, but surely you won't be held liable if you paint over a racial slur on a rock!
The proper thing to do with a lemon is to make it into lemonade. Perry should have made a statement about the mainstream media trying to stir up racial trouble over nothing, about it being a divisive, distracting piece of nothing journalism and then say he only had vague recollections of the rock and that it had been painted over almost 30 years ago. Then he should have shut up.
Cain gave the media an opening and yes, the media blew it up but Cain added fuel to the fire when he announced the next day that if Perry were the GOP nominee he wouldn't support him.
Cain did mention immigration as the issue that he would part ways with Perry. Still, the timing of his announcement of non-support coming one day after the hunting camp issue is not an accident.
In today's sound bite news culture, the typical American will hear about the hunting camp incident on one day, then hear that Cain won't support Perry if he's the nominee the very next day. There will be linkage and Cain knew it, which is why he made a big deal out of announcing his non-support the day after the camp stuff came out.
I think this is a low blow. This was not his ranch or his fathers. This was a lease. The time frame may be in question as to how long this remained, but none the less unless they can prove he painted the sign, using it for political gain is over the top as it should not take low blows to defeat Rick Perry as his record if exposed as Governor on illegals, taxes, lavish personal spending at tax payer expense, state budget, not to mention his lack of understanding of the SS system would flush him down the drain alone.
There was another Republcan Presidential hopeful who was slammed by the leftiest liberal press-----an issue taken over his presence and participation at a birthday party for an old man!!!
The Oval Office door was slammed in Mississippi Congressional leader Trent Lott's face!!
The problem is that Rick Perry is not a conservative. He has socialist tendencies along with liberal views. No conservative would seek to give illegals a lower tuition at the expense of tax payers. Rick Perry used to be a democrat. Now he claims to be republican. While I am not a republican I would say he is a democrat in republican underwear.