quote:

Rick Perry has challenged House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to debate him next week about his plan for a part-time Congress.

In a letter to Pelosi (D-Calif.) obtained by The Hill, the Texas governor wrote: "I am in Washington Monday and would love to engage you in a public debate about my Overhaul Washington plan versus the congressional status quo.

"I think it would be a tremendous service to the American people to see a public airing of these differences," he continued. "Let the people decide. If Monday doesn't work, perhaps we could find a time in Iowa over the course of the next month to discuss these issues in front of the people of America's heartland."

Perry is running as a Washington outsider, and in a speech on Tuesday he called for "a part-time Congress where their pay is cut in half, their office budgets are cut in half, and their time in Washington is cut in half."

Still, the decision to challenge Pelosi to a debate may raise some eyebrows.

It's unusual for a presidential candidate to challenge a congressional leader to a debate, and Perry has been criticized for his lack-luster debate performances. He stumbled in last week's debate in Michigan, when he forgot the name of the third government department he would close, only to remember it later.

That performance led some observers to argue his campaign for the White House was finished. A survey in Iowa this week found Perry in single digits and trailing not only Mitt Romney, but Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

In the letter, Perry pointedly invited Pelosi to Iowa, the early caucus state where he's trying to gain traction after falling in the polls.

quote:

Perry sounds more desperate every day.

quote:

What a goofy "challenge" by the goofy Perry. I guess he doesn't know that he should have challenged Boehner, who's actually in charge in the House.