Perry chooses Waterloo, too

Texas Governor Rick Perry will be in Waterloo, Iowa, on Sunday to speak at a GOP event.  The venue: the Electric Park Ballroom.  It’s the same venue Michele Bachmann chose for her Sunday evening event, on “Announcement Eve” for her presidential campaign.  The event this Sunday is a fundraiser for Black Hawk County Republicans.

Mac McDonald, chairman of the Black Hawk County Republican Party, told me his phone’s been “ringing off the hook” today.

“We’ve been after all the candidates to stop by our Lincoln Day Dinner which is the day after the Straw Poll and Governor Perry’s campaign called me early this morning and said, ‘Hey, he’s going to be in town and he would love to come to your dinner and say a few words,’ and I said, ‘We’d love to have him,'” McDonald said.

McDonald, as the county chairman, is prohibited by the Black Hawk County Party’s bylaws from publicly endorsing a candidate before the GOP nominee is chosen.  However, McDonald referred to Perry as a “candidate to be reckoned with” and said Perry “shows the experience that this country is looking for amongst the other candidates that the Republicans are putting up to run against President Obama.”

Waterloo is in Black Hawk County, a Democratic-leaning county with 29,440 registered Democrats and 20,534 Republicans as of August 1. Black Hawk County Republicans aren’t even touting Perry’s appearance on their website yet.  Here’s how it’s plugged right now:

…Special Guest Speakers!
Chuck Grassley, Iowa US Senator
Matt Schultz, Iowa Secretary of State
Walt Rogers, Iowa House District 20
Matt Strawn, Chairman, Republican Party of Iowa

Presidential Candidates invited to attend:
Michelle Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich

McDonald told me he hopes some of those folks listed above may change their minds and decide to come to Waterloo Sunday night to speak on the same stage as Perry.