Rick Perry's Charm Offensive

If you're an elected official, you may not have received much affection from Rick Perry over the years unless you were top-line and really important. Now, facing a run for a third term coming off a 39 percent win in 2006, Rick Perry is changing his tune.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times calls it "a charm offensive". That's an accurate descriptor for suddenly deciding to hang out with state representatives you've never paid any attention to over the years. Now Rick Perry wants to be Best Dudes Forever with anyone that might carry any sort of weight anywhere.

The Caller-Times editorial makes the case that Perry should have been building these relationships all along, pointing that an effective executive builds a legislative network early on and uses it to engender government efficiency. (I'm paraphrasing.)

I agree with that sentiment. Republicans on the farm team aren't going to care that Perry is being buddy-buddy now simply because he needs something even if they recognize it for what it is. They will happily play along to get the photo op for a mailer that they might or might not use, depending on the how the Republican gubernatorial primary plays out in a few years.