Perry hears “four aces” & raises with “RomneyCare”

Rick Perry ripped into Mitt Romney several times this evening during a speech in Jefferson, Iowa.  Perry’s first mention of Romney was caught by those in the crowd who’d seen or heard about Monday’s debate and knew about Romney’s “four aces” line.  Perry told the crowd:

“As the son of tenant farmers, I can promise you I wasn’t born with four aces in my hand,” Perry said.  Some in the crowd started to laugh. Perry continued: “But like many of you the American dream was available to us because this country that we live in is not a class society. This country is based on hard-work and vision and anyone who does that can achieve anything that they desire.”

In case the crowd didn’t know that was a reference to Romney, Perry made it clear a few minutes later:

“Governor Romney the other night, he said that about, you know, he said, well, it’s pretty easy to be governor when you get four aces in your hand and you think you’re good at poker,” Perry said. “You know, there’s some folks back in Texas that were a little offended by that. We worked hard in Texas. We put good, hard, practical principles into play.”

Toward the end of his speech, Perry poked even harder, suggesting Romney doesn’t provide a stark enough contrast with President Obama.  Perry suggested “RomneyCare” was an albatross, although he didn’t use the word albatross.  This is how Perry said it:

“Government-mandated, government-run health care — it is part of what he put in place as the governor of Massachusetts…I think it’s very important that we put someone as our nominee that does not blur the lines between President Obama and the Republican Party.”

Listen & read more about it here.