Perry's Plan: Politics not Policy

In my column for The Week I explain that Rick Perry's tax plan is designed to appeal to voters in the Republican primary, not to policy wonks who care about whether or not the plan makes economic sense:

The wonks point out that (as conventionally scored) Perry's tax plan would blow a giant hole in the already huge federal deficit. The wonks also note that the Perry plan claims to balance the budget by 2020 only by (1) positing ferocious spending cuts unlikely to pass Congress and by (2) simultaneously assuming a sudden acceleration of U.S. economic growth upon adoption of the Perry flat tax plan.

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The wonks will therefore conclude that the Perry plans make no sense.

They are wrong! The plans make great sense — if you understand Perry's true purpose.

The Perry plans are not economic plans. They are primary-winning plans.

Rick Perry entered the GOP presidential race as the most credible in the field of Not Romneys. Perry then immolated himself in a series of debate gaffes, tumbling to fifth place in most national polls of Republican preferences.

Yet the opportunity Perry perceived before entering the race remains. There continues to exist a big Republican constituency for a credible Not Romney. That person is not Michele Bachmann. It is not Herman Cain. It briefly was Rick Perry — and if he can somehow overcome his debate stumbles, it could be Rick Perry again.

Perry is now acting shrewdly to revive his hopes. He has husbanded his money: As of September 30, he had more cash on hand than Mitt Romney.

He has now staked out the ultra-tax-cutting position that attracts the GOP's small-business spine.

He has aggressively winked and nodded at the birthers in a way that signals, "I'm not a paranoid nutcase, but I do agree with you that this Barry Sotero Hussein Obama is not a real American."

Over the weekend, Perry slapped Herman Cain hard for Cain's deviationfrom the strict anti-abortion position.

Perry has, in short, positioned himself as the most survivable repository of anti-Romney hopes in the GOP. And there are a lot of Republicans who hold such hopes. If Bachmann is forced to quit the race due to money and staff troubles, if the Cain train goes off the rails, if Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum continue to exist as debate presences only, lacking campaign organizations — and with Palin and Christie staying home — then Perry can confidently expect to rise again.

Click here to read the full column.