Politics: Jesus, Take the Wheel

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Politics Jesus, Take the Wheel Does Rick Perry's faith-and-values message give him a chance in Iowa? By David Weigel Posted Thursday, Dec 15, 2011, at 06:26 PM ET DENISON, Iowa—Rick Perry's campaign bus, which will be cutting across Iowa for 10 days, is painted dark shades of black, red, and blue. It has a slogan that can be seen from the lower end of the stratosphere: "Faith, Jobs, and Freedom." The "faith" part is sort of new. It comes first for a reason. At the first Wednesday stop, in Council Bluffs, the bus pulls up to the Bayliss Park Hall and parks next to a municipal lamppost decorated with Christmas trimmings. Perry exits the bus with Lt. Dan Moran, a Marine who survived an IED attack in Iraq but sustained third-degree burns. The governor of Texas finds his place in a room of around 85 curious people—a few are from Omaha, a short drive down the road—and gives a 13-minute stump speech. He holds out his arms to "draw the line between Washington and Wall Street." He brandishes a postcard to show how simple his flat tax would be and a Sharpie to prove how rarin' and ready he is to start vetoing bills. He doesn't have a prop for his next point. "This president's had a war on our values," says Perry. "He stopped funding for those Catholic charities simply because they wouldn't perform abortions. Their values are important to them, but this president said, I'm gonna stop the funding to you. His justice department is trying to impact long-standing law that basically says whether or not a church ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Dickerson: Is Gingrich's Unusual Campaign the Way To Beat Romney or Is It Just Nutty? Norway's Absurd Butter Shortage and Its Very Valuable Lessons About Global Economics My Favorite Video Game of 2011 Was the Legend of Zelda, and I'm Not Ashamed To Admit It	Advertisement
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