The Midday Brief: Sept. 26, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Despite his performances in the two most recent Republican presidential debates, a new national survey indicates that Texas Gov. Rick Perry remains on top of the field in the race for the GOP nomination. … According to the survey, which was released Monday, 28 percent of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say they support Perry as their party's presidential nominee, with Romney at 21 percent." — CNN Poll: Perry still at top but Romney stronger vs. Obama, CNN

• "Less than four months before the first GOP nominating contests are expected to begin, the narrative of the 2012 presidential primary is shaping up to sound something like this: Texas Gov. Rick Perry will pit his unapologetic anti-establishment rhetoric against Mitt Romney's discipline, network of political professionals, and appeal to a broad general electorate. While the GOP contest might not be that clear-cut in reality — and the race is sure to see more twists and turns ahead — that's still a metaphorical shootout that Perry would like to have.  After all, he won a similar fight two years ago without appearing to break a sweat at the end." — Could Perry’s ’10 campaign serve as a roadmap for ’12?, NBC News

• "Rick Perry is continuing his efforts to portray Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper, releasing a video this morning that highlights changes Romney made to his book.  The video, created by Perry's 'Truth Team,' quotes Romney saying, 'Words have meaning.' It then shows that Romney deleted the following phrase, in reference to Massachusetts' health care plan, from a later edition of his book." — Perry continues to attack Romney as a flip-flopper, Trail Blazers

• "POLITICO's Reid Epstein, watching Michele Bachmann's event in Iowa, reports that she's opening a new line of attack on Rick Perry. Speaking to a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Rep. Michele Bachmann took a shot at Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his fumbled Pakistan response at Thursday’s debate." — Michele Bachmann dings Rick Perry on Pakistan, Politico

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Texas' latest effort to address childhood obesity — a new law allowing a deeper study of student fitness data — could be blunted by the exemption lawmakers gave school districts from having to collect and report the data on a significant number of students." — Texas' Struggle to Combat Childhood Obesity Advances, then Retreats