Rick Perry has just unveiled his "drill baby drill" plan, a plan to bring dirty oil to ourselves and perhaps have enough left over to sell to the the rest of the world. Perry wants to "Make what we make" , "Buy what we make" and "Sell what we make" to the rest of the world. Perhaps instead of "drill baby drill" Perry's plan could be described as the "Make, Make, Make" plan. or "Make, Buy and Sell" plan. In any event Perry's makeover has him positioned aside a simplistic plan well suited to his experience running an energy state and his inexperience in just about everything else. And Perry's plan is positioned just opposite Cain's 999 plan. Of course, neither of their plans is ever going to be implemented. The plans are a ruse for getting one or the other of these candidates through the primaries.

Howard Dean commented that the buzz surrounding Cain's 999 plan would give Perry some cover and time to regroup. I think it is possible for Perry to recover by using a simplified "plan" approach like Cain, particularly because of: a weak field of candidates, a fractured Republican party, and an ideologically driven base whose main focus is to remove Obama at any cost. Perry's plan is a comeback vehicle. But both of these candidates' plans are mostly advertising "sizzle". The selling of attitude and ideology is what's going on underneath the plans--at least what's being aimed at the non-moderate, non Eastern establishment wing. In can be noted here that both Perry and Cain have made statements unacceptable to the right wing base--most recently Cain in his endorsement of Alan Greenspan. 

Cain obviously surged to the forefront at the expense of Perry. The right wing wants someone not only to thrash Obama, but to stop the moderate, Eastern Romney. It is my opinion  that the Republican right wing reconstituted itself as the "tea party" as a reaction not only to Obama's election but in anger that George Bush had trashed the Republican brand. The tea folks are determined not only to defeat Obama but to prevent any moderation in the party. Romney is a double threat, his Mormonism being one, and his ties to the more moderate Eastern establishment wing of the party being the other.

What has interested me thus far about Cain and his viability is the split in reactions among the elements of the Republican machine. A number of conservatives have excoriated Cain's 999 plan. So also has Tax man himself, Grover Norquist. But on the other hand some of the big guns--Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and Wall St. Journal seem to be holding, or at least limiting, their fire. Fox News just featured no less than supply side promoter Laffler praising Cain's plan--this is a way to broaden the tax base and lower the rate--standard clap trap. Limbaugh gave Cain a real pass on 999. Previously, Limbaugh showed no hesitation in shutting Cain up after he criticized Perry on his "insensitive" remark.

The above suggests to me a kind of holding pattern by some of the big guns that is not inconsistent with Howard Dean's premise that Perry is being given a chance to turn his candidacy around. The so called main stream media is already critiquing the 999 plan, comparing it to Sim City and giving a platform to the geeky originator, from a bank in Ohio, who compared the plan's simplicity to predicting the outcome of dropping a bowling ball. The entire plan, given the right spin, can be viciously caricatured--not in the least by Fox and Limbaugh.  

Haley Barbour, who is supposedly bundling for Perry, said his wife is supporting Cain (that's a good dodge) and that Cain could sweep the South. Well, that is--until he, the Koch Bros, Limbaugh and the News Corp. have a better idea of which way to play this. Which, in my opinion, depends upon whether Perry can rekindle himself with his own Cain-like simplistic plan and a vastly improved debate performance. Apparently, they don't have Klieg lights in Texas, or Perry has some other squinting-eye issue.

In the total context of the debates Romney has as big an objective to chip away at Cain and the 999 plan as Perry does. Both Romney and Perry have to be careful how they attack Cain. Cain's great personal strengths are his affability and unflappable style and a certain appeal in his jaunty mannerisms. I think the real take down of Cain, if and when it becomes necessary, is more likely to happen in the corporate media, although it may or may not work as right wing voters seem to be launching out on their own instincts--well, they are in disarray, not really liking this total field and being swamped in their own extreme hatred of Obama.

So I think Perry is being given a second chance. And aside from the incredibly air tight logic above I confess that my entire post is colored by the fact that I don't see how in hell a pizza company executive with a plan lifted from a video game can rise to the top of a national primary. Or go on to win a national election. And I don't see how our planet could be struck by a meteor the size of a pizza parlor--but that is also mathematically possible.

Update. Clarus Research released a poll yesterday of the Louisiana Republican Primary showing Perry up by 2 over Cain, with Romney trailing. Don't know the cred of Clarus but it's perhaps a start for Perry and viruses can spread. What is probably just as telling is how a three way split helps keep Romney alive.