Rick Perry's no good, very bad week

It's only been a week and a half since Governor Profit was praised to the heavens -- or at least to the inside of Reliant Stadium's roof -- and already Republicans of all stripes seem to be worn out with his Texas charm. Just look at this list of news stories in the days since last Saturday's Iowa straw poll:

The cultural right was miffed that he didn't want to beat the shit out of brown kids, having signed the Texas version of the DREAM Act into law. The Wall Street right, thinking they had their guy, recoiled in horror as Perry boasted of beating the shit out of Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke if he made his way down to Texas.

Suddenly, that GOP establishment isn't looking too favorably on the Texan. The Bush crowd, still a dominant force in the Republican Party, has led the assault. Even the Wall Street Journal got in on the act, running this headline with apparently no intended irony: "Rick Perry's Crony Capitalism Problem".

The WSJ is just now discovering Rick Perry has a crony capitalist problem?! Maybe Rupert Murdoch's cellphone hackers were too busy with other people.

Just today, these items.

-- The governor's theory on the theory of evolution draws scorn in the Granite State.

-- Ron Paul laughingly declares that Perry "makes me look like a moderate", and then proceeds to dynamite his own premise by saying:

"I have never once said that Bernanke has committed treason. But I have suggested very strongly that the Federal Reserve system and all the members have been counterfeiters for a long time."

To wild applause from the assembled Paulites.

-- Perry can’t defend his claim to a woman in a cafe' that Social Security is unconstitutional because he’s ‘got a big mouthful’ of delicious New Hampshire popover. (Forget those nasty veggie corndogs; popovers are the shiznit.)

-- His spokesperson Ray Sullivan denies ever knowing that Perry, in fact, has said that Social Security was unconstitutional.

This on the heels of Karl Rove's broadsides, and the investment the governor made in a porn film distribution business, a story our very own Burnt Orange Report broke in 1995. (It's nice when the media finds what we've been writing for years, isn't it?)

Nothing about secession or Al Gore, but plenty about his record as a twenty-five-year career politician. Ben Sherman has some additional linkage on the governor's week from hell, and Katherine Haenschen notes that The Response attendees are being targeted for voter registration efforts. Additional proof that the prayer event wasn't a political rally, of course.

That kind of assault might ironically help Perry—one of his biggest liabilities is the perception that he's the establishment choice in a decidedly anti-establishment year—but it doesn't solve the problem of those DC and Wall Street Republicans looking for someone electable in the general election.

Now to be clear, that establishment would be happy enough with Mitt Romney. He's a hedge fund manager's wet dream, and party bosses who actually want to beat President Barack Obama in 2012 can point to polling showing Romney giving Obama the toughest challenge (by a long shot). But they all also know Romney ain't getting past the teabagger crowd. So who is that magic person who can win the nomination and still be electable nationally in the general?

Perry ain't it. They've obviously concluded that. Hence the rampant speculation today that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and anti-Medicare jihadist Rep. Paul Ryan might be exploring the race.

Next?