DENISON, Iowa — Still lagging in the polls and with less than three weeks before the nation’s first presidential contest, Rick Perry began an extensive barnstorming tour across Iowa on Wednesday, telling voters that he’s the outsider equipped to fix the economy and clean up the culture of corruption on Wall Street.
“You don’t have to settle for a Washington insider, you don’t have to settle for a Wall Streeter,” Perry told about 100 people at a restaurant. “It’s about who has the record and where have they been. . . . I’m the only person on the stage that is an outsider.”
With the exception of Mitt Romney, whose Wall Street connections he noted, Perry did not mention the names of any of his Republican rivals. But his insider comments were aimed at front-runner Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House.
Perry’s bus tour, which includes nearly 50 stops, is designed to emphasize Perry’s perceived strength — meeting voters one-on-one and appealing to them in rallies. Today, he’ll debate fellow GOP presidential contenders in Sioux City, the last major forum before the Iowa caucuses in January.
