The Secessionist fades.

I kept telling people early on that the Secessionist was a lousy politician who would get exposed pretty quickly on the national stage, and he's doing just that.

People outside of Texas might not have realized that Perry was an accidental governor and Rove protege who switched parties at exactly the right time in history, got lucky -- and never faced a serious challenger.

The guy couldn't break 40% of the vote running against the likes of Kinky Friedman in one of the most right-wing states in the country.

It's not over for Perry, but it will be soon enough. As I saw it, his best path to victory would've been to avoid the media (and most of the debates) and the press, a la Palin in '08. Oh well.

This isn't great news for Obama. You can bet Axelrod was salivating over a Perry-Bachmann ticket.