The Midday Brief: Aug. 16, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary voters, taken Monday night, finds Perry with 29% support. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, earns 18% of the vote, while Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who won the high-profile Ames Straw Poll in Iowa on Saturday, picks up 13%." — GOP Primary: Perry 29%, Romney 18%, Bachmann 13%, Rasmussen Reports

• "Rick Perry’s attack on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke – calling the country’s central banker “almost treasonous” for adopting quantitative easing policy — has drawn a sharp round of rebukes from former Bush administration officials, starting with known Perry skeptic Karl Rove." — Bushies slam Rick Perry's Ben Bernanke comment, Politico

• "Put simply: Rick Perry doesn’t apologize — and it’s worked for him politically. … Therein lies the danger in Perry’s approach to the race. Yes, his willingness to take stands — verbal and otherwise — and stick to them will win him the adulation of the voters who will have an outsized say in determining the identity of the Republican nominee in 2012.  But that same approach could alienate him from independent voters , the same voters that President Obama has been assiduously courting for months. " — Rick Perry, the ‘no apologies’ candidate, The Fix

• "Forget, for a moment, the left's outrage over Rick Perry's comment last night that Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke could be guilty of treason. The more immediate political danger of the remark is within the context of the Republican race: Perry very much wants a mano-a-mano contest against Mitt Romney and the irresponsible suggestion of frontier justice for a respected Fed chair threatens that match-up." — Why Rick Perry's Ben Bernanke comment matters in the GOP tent, Politico

• "It didn't talk long for Barack Obama to enlist Rick Perry as part of his reelection fundraising effort. The Obama campaign is soliciting contributions by putting Perry and the Texas economic miracle in his sights. Perry is promoting himself as a jobs-creator in Texas and is promising GOP primary voters he can do the same thing for America if he's elected to the White House. Team Obama says that's not such a good idea." — Barack Obama's new BFFF — Best Fundraising Friend Forever, Trail Blazers

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Gov. Rick Perry 's nascent presidential campaign is focused on job creation. But Tuesday, he found himself answering questions about his controversial statements on "treasonous" monetary policy and President Obama's relationship with the U.S. military." — Hot-Headed Talk Shifts Perry Off Jobs Focus

• "Gov. Rick Perry's statement of candidacy and statement of organization for RickPerry.org, Inc., Perry's principal campaign committee, have been posted on the Federal Election Commission's website." — Perry Makes Presidential Campaign Official, Files with FEC