Politics

Steele to Perry: ‘Just lay it out there’ like Herman Cain [VIDEO]

Nicholas Ballasy Senior Video Reporter
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Former Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) Michael Steele told The Daily Caller that 2012 presidential candidate Rick Perry should campaign more like fellow candidate Herman Cain.

TheDC asked Steele if has advice for Perry, given that the Texas governor’s poll numbers have been dropping in the race for the White House.

“I think part of it is the idea of running for the presidency and getting up a campaign, you’ve got a lot of folks running around, whispering in your ears telling you how great you are and how much money you’re going to raise and all of that stuff. The reality of standing on a stage next to someone who’s lobbing bombs at you, that you’ve got to respond to, becomes very real and I think then again, your record becomes a big part of the discussion and you’ve got to be prepared to defend that,” Steele said in Washington on Friday.

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Steele advises Perry to “stand his ground, lock his feet in, in the earth and be honest with folks and don’t back down for what he believes in and you know, you don’t need to be cute by half or trying to put out a quip – just lay it out there like a Herman Cain and others.”

A new Rasmussen Reports poll from this week finds that in a general election Obama would earn 39 percent support while Cain would attract 34 percent. TheDC also asked Steele why he thinks Cain’s message is resonating with voters.

“Folks have seen the amount of spending, the amount of waste, the amount of you know, frustration that certainly a lot of Americans have about all of that and I think he’s responded to it in a very honest way,” Steele answered.

“He’s laid out a plan, you could agree or disagree with the plan, but he’s laid out something as far as folks are concerned, concrete, they can identify with it, it makes sense. You know, 9-9-9 is fairly easy to grasp, you know, so I think in that sense he’s laid down some markers and he’s been very specific and he’s been very direct and I think that helps in this climate.”

Cain’s 9-9-9 plan would implement a flat 9 percent household income tax, a 9 percent national sales tax and a 9 percent corporate tax.

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