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Ticker-tape parades become a wedge issue

Rick Perry is trying his darnedest to beat back sagging polls and get the attention of Iowa voters in advance of next Tuesday's caucus.
Ticker-tape parades become a wedge issue
Ticker-tape parades become a wedge issue

Rick Perry is trying his darnedest to beat back sagging polls and get the attention of Iowa voters in advance of next Tuesday's caucus. Yesterday he released his 11th Iowa ad (and ninth just this month) hyping his idea for an (even more) part-time Congress. He also publicized that he now opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. He proffered a positively Michele Bachmann-ian explanation: he saw Mike Huckabee's movie, and heard one person's story:

"When the lady who was in it was looking me in the eye and saying, 'You need to think this through,' she said, 'I am the product of a rape' and she said 'my life has worth,'" Perry said. "It was a powerful moment for me."

One wonders whether a President Perry's policy platform could be tracked by his Netflix queue.

Last night, Rachel expanded on Thursday's Best New Thing in the World and explored the possibility -- suggested by New York City councilmen and IAVA executive director Paul Rieckhoff -- that the city host a "Canyon of Heroes" ticker-tape parade for military veterans now home from the officially concluded war in Iraq.

The near-term prospects don't look good. Sentiment about the parade seems mixed, since we're still in wartime. Some returning Iraq vets are due to be sent directly to Afghanistan by summertime.

One person who seems clear on whether this is a good -- no, great -- idea is Rick Perry. This morning, NBC campaign reporter Carrie Dann reported the following from the Machine Shed Restaurant in Urbandale, Iowa, where the Texas governor spoke at a breakfast:

The Hill reports the Perry quote at greater length than Twitter allows:

"It really disturbs me that nearly after nine years of war in Iraq that this president wouldn’t welcome home our many heroes with a simple parade in their honor," Perry said at a campaign stop in Iowa. "Maybe it’s because this war is unpopular with the Democrats. I don’t know. But Mr. President, our soldiers come first. And it comes before party politics. We need to welcome our soldiers home. Give them that parade. Give them that pat on the back. Tell them thank you for the freedom that we have."

Thus Governor Perry becomes the first 2012 candidate to go on record pushing a ticker-tape parade for Iraq vets (while getting in a dig at President Obama, natch). It'll be interesting to see whether other Republican hopefuls -- and the White House -- now chime in as well.

You can find last night's TRMS segment after the jump.