With 80 percent of GOP voters undecided, opportunity at Perry’s door

The Perry campaign has a video explaining 'Cut, Balance and Grow.'

Media is pushing results of a CBS/NY Times poll on the GOP presidential candidates, but the big bottom line on that poll is that 80 percent of Republican Primary voters remain undecided.

That meshes with what Republicans and independents have been telling me in recent weeks.  I don’t think they’re undecided because the candidates aren’t strong—we have a big field to choose from, unlike Democrats this go ‘round.

Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has expanded his campaign with new staffers and more information on his policy. If you view some of the feedback from key influencers, it’s obvious Perry has a lot of opportunity.

The under-reported story is the praise Perry’s tax plan Cut, Balance and Grow has received:

• Talk titan Rush Limbaugh: “…A return to fiscal sanity.”
• Author and talk show host Mark Levin: “…One hell of a tax plan.”
• Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth: “…Massively pro-growth.”
• Daniel J. Mitchell, Cato Institute: “…Would dramatically boost economic performance…”
• Ed Morrisey, Hot Air: “…Game-changer…”
• Avik Roy, Manhattan Institute: “…It’s excellent…”
• Dick Armey, chair of FreedomWorks: “…The best plan standing…”

One of the most respected tax organizations in the U.S. also praised the plan—Scott Hodge with the Tax Foundation said Perry’s plan would be a “boon to long-term economic growth.”

Perry wrote about his flat tax plan in the book Fed Up published in 2010. Aside from the tax plan, Perry also devoted a lot of ink in that book to government reform through transferring power back to the states and to the people where power belongs.

The premise is simple. If we continue to yield money to the federal government, the government will continue to expand if history is a guide. That expansion bodes well for no American regardless of income.

President Barack Obama repeats his talking point about income inequality in the U.S., but what Obama never mentions is that the inequality is parallel to the expansion of the federal government.

Perry has a big opportunity at this point to accelerate his messaging ahead of the holidays when many Americans will focus on family and fun rather than politics. Time is pressing because states like Florida have advanced their primary dates.

Some media have reported Perry may not participate in all the upcoming debates. That would, I think, be a mistake. That is his particular challenge and he must meet that challenge in order to advance.

Hopefully the campaign will also focus on the positives in Perry's proposals and avoid traps set by media because focusing on non-issues will produce no gains.

Neil Stevens who writes for Red State and at his own site Unlikely Voter put it bluntly: Perry had better get Fed Up, fast. That’s good advice.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Oct. 27, 2011)