Iowa Bus Tour Day 5: Rick Perry with His MacBook Pro, Anita in New Hampshire

The video above was released by the Perry campaign Dec. 20 to complement the bus tour.

Day 5 of the Rick Perry bus tour through Iowa found the Perry posse rolling through Northeastern Iowa, ending the day in Dubuque. Follow along as we examine the media coverage today. Here's the map of the Perry bus tour for Dec. 19, 2011:

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Elkader, Iowa

CBS News' Rebecca Kaplan reports that Texas Gov. Rick Perry resumed day 5 of his bus tour in Iowa in Elkader, in front of a crowd of 50, with a fresh speech, contrasting his opponents' support of the 2008 Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), and calling it the "single greatest act of thievery in American history." The worst part? "Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were for it," Perry said.

Kaplan gets into the weeds on the TARP issue, reporting that some have said Perry was for TARP before he was against it. Kay Bailey Hutchison made that claim in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign in Texas. Luckily, Perry has a Statement of the Governor from Oct 2008 declaring his opposition to TARP, and it trumps a vague joint statement with a Democrat governor.

Local media did a great job covering the event, pulling an a variety of views on Perry's visit here. James Q. Lynch writes on the Cedar Rapids Iowa Gazette:

“I’m real close [to supporting Perry],” Jim Smith of Elgin said as he left a town hall meeting at Johnson’s Restaurant in Elkader. He likes Perry’s conservative values, tough approach to border security and promise “to get us back to the Constitution.”

“He’s got a good background for this job and he understands what we’re all about,” added his wife, Ardis.

(eds: Jim, dude, if your wife if on board the Perry 'Faith, Jobs and Freedom bus', what's holding you back?)

(Source: Iowa Caucus "Northeast Iowans lean toward Perry, but not ready to commit")

Manchester, Iowa

The Wall Street Journal sent Danny Yadron down to Iowa to interview Perry on the bus tour. He filed this report, but more interestingly, he added this video from the campaign trail. It's really good:

Dyersville, Iowa

Perry addressed a crowd of 80 at a coffee shop in Dyersville. CBS News' Rebecca Kaplan reports that Perry dropped his attack on NewtRomney, and aimed his ire at Obama instead. I love the way Kaplan weaves these little anecdotal details into her stories:

"President Obama ran a great campaign, but his campaign was on hope and change, and there weren't a lot of details," the Texas governor said to a group of about 80 voters at the Country Junction restaurant here. "We sure got some change, I'll agree there. But the change we got, it's been destructive to our country."

...

After he shook hands with supporters, Perry made his way over to the counter to buy a coconut pie from the owner, where he was clearly aware of the five cameras filming his every move. "Come over here," Perry said, lifting up the pie and bringing him around the counter. "You're fixing to be on national TV," he instructed, before - with a little help -- naming the restaurant and its location.

"I would tell you the phone number, but I don't know it," he quipped.

(Source: CBS News "Perry: Obama's policies are 'destructive'")

This is video uploaded today from Saturday's event in Clear Lake, Iowa at the Cabin Coffee Company. This is the coffee shop that packaged "Rick Perry for President" brand coffee, and in the video, Perry is seen signing a few bags of that coffee. You can help them out with your LIKE of their Facebook page here (for the record, they have 162 Facebook fans as of today).

Dubuque, Iowa

The Dubuque, Iowa Telegraph-Herald got to ride along with Rick Perry on the Rick Perry bus! And just for us, they have a video of life going on inside the bus. One takeaway is that Perry uses a MacBook Pro! Like me, he 'thinks different.' I bet Mitt Romney is on Windows. Watch the road trip from inside the Rick Perry for President bus while it's cruising Iowa here.

Later in Dubuque, Perry participated in the Faith and Freedom teleconference town hall. He said he receives motivation for his campaign from the Bible passage in Joshua 1:9:

Perry made reference to Joshua 1:9, a scriptural reading which is important to him as he campaigns for the Republican nomination for president: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

(Source: Des Moines, Register "Perry in Iowa: Improving U.S. economy is “very Biblically based” )

For context, here is the entire first chapter of the Book of Joshua, which is about the inauguration of Joshua as the leader of the Israelites after the death of Moses. Joshua went on to conquer the Land of Canaan, and in the process, tore down the walls of Jericho.

Dallas Morning News columnist Gromer Jeffers, reporting on the road from Harlan, Iowa summed Perry's attitude on the bus tour well. "Perry may not win Iowa, but he’s sure having fun."

Meanwhile, all of the Iowa political world anticipate the endorsement from Bob Vander Plaatts and his Family Leader, an Iowa-based Christian conservative organization Tuesday morning. Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Jon Huntsman have already been disqualified. The group will announce their endorsement at 10:30 a.m. at the Comfort Suites in Urbandale.

Comfort Suites?

Meanwhile, up in Hudson, New Hampshire, Rick's wife Anita Perry was busy campaigning too. Anita is so graceful. She reminds me of my wife. Here's the C-Span feed of her meet and greet there:

The coverage is helping Perry. Today, an Insider Advantage Iowa Caucus poll put Perry in third place:

See the poll at RealClearPolitics.com. This is the highest Iowa poll ranking for Perry since August!

Rebecca Kaplan at CBS News gets the link today. She's doing a great job covering the bus tour.