John Heilemann visited Hardball tonight to join in the attempts to figure out exactly what Rick Perry was thinking when he gave this speech. Was he merely impersonating Alec Baldwin parodying him? Nope, folks, this gold appears to be genuine. “Whimsical” was Chris Matthews’s word to describe the now-viral video, whereas Heilemann went with “goofy.” “If you are trying to put the most positive spin on it you would say that he has been flat and wooden and sort of dead up until now, and he is trying to revivify himself in a folksy, loose, charming way,” Heilemann said. That, or Perry’s hoping to scoot in as a last-minute choice for your topical Halloween costume.
