Perry and His Cowboy Boots Stomp Through Iowa

This week Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry is stomping in Iowa, and it seems he's got the right footwear on to do it.

For lunch, he dished with patrons and supporters at Drake Diner in Des Moines.  Perry chose the Rarebit Burger-something the menu notes: is "served open faced, not in your face."

During the meal, Perry's cowboy boots peeked out from under his suit pants.  And on them, you could almost make out an expression on the upper shin area.  It was hard to read, but it says, "Come and Take It."  The campaign says it's typical of the stick it to them Texas attitude. It refers to the flag from the Battle of Gonzales and the start of the Texas Revolution.

On his way out the door, Perry stopped for Q&A with media.  Right off the bat, he was asked about a viral video of his speech in New Hampshire last week that has gotten a lot of media attention. Perry responded, "I guess you can do anything you want with a video, make it look anyway you want, but I felt good. It felt great. I think the message got across very well. It was a good speech."

Questioning quickly moved from his troubles, to the troubles of another candidate, reports of harassment allegations clouding Herman Cain's campaign.  "As a good rule of thumb, until you know things go past, allegations to fact, I just try to leave them alone", Perry said.

When asked about a press release from Mitt Romney's campaign titled "Rick Perry: Wrong For Iowa", Perry responded, "I think Iowans are the ones that will decide who's right for Iowa, not some candidate."

About an hour after lunch, Perry headlined an Education and Economic town hall with students from University of Phoenix.  While answering a question on areas he sees for future growth, he referenced his own need for growth in debating.  "I hate debates. I used to hate spinning in aircrafts... Finally I did it, and I did it enough that I finally got pretty good at it. So hold on, maybe I'll get better at debates, too."

Perry may like Iowa, but he's not a fan of Washington.  At both Des Moines stops, Perry referenced his disdain for the Nation's capital. Perry insists he is going "take a wrecking ball to DC" and "may have to bring my own barrel of ink for my veto pen."