Texas governor [Rick Perry] seeks advice on a GOP bid (also being briefed on U.S. defense, trade..)

Boston Globe ^ | July 12, 2011 | Political Notebook

[Cincinatus' Wife]

EXETER, N.H. - Texas Governor Rick Perry has telephoned influential Republicans in early-voting New Hampshire and Iowa in recent days as he weighs whether to enter the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

“He was looking for my thoughts in terms of what the presidential field looked like and what might happen if someone came in and shook things up a little bit,’’ New Hampshire Senate President Peter Bragdon said yesterday....

The conservative Texan also called several GOP leaders in Iowa, which will hold the first contest in next year’s GOP presidential race. Among those contacted, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds....

“He looked forward to the opportunity to have a face-to-face and talk about great things that could happen in Iowa as well as the nation,’’ Reynolds said. “He just said he looked forward to seeing me soon.’’

Perry’s efforts to reach out to Republican officeholders in both states come as polls suggest Republican primary voters in early voting states and elsewhere are generally underwhelmed by the current slate of candidates.

The field is largely set, with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney - who lost the nomination to John McCain in 2008 - ahead in most early surveys. Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee, and Perry are the only two major question marks.

Perry, Texas’s longest-serving governor, had spent months saying that he would not seek the nomination. He reversed course several weeks ago and has been openly considering a bid.

New Hampshire conservative leader and former Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne said he spoke to Perry “for the better part of half an hour’’ on Saturday.

“I told him that I think this is a wide-open race. While there are some good candidates out there, I think folks are still looking,’’ said Lamontagne,....

[CitizenUSA]

CW: “Who is your candidate?”

I don’t have a particular candidate right now, but several are acceptable. Bachmann or Cain are fine. Perry seems OK but doesn’t thrill me. I’d like to see Palin in the race, but she’s starting to irritate me with the “is she in or is she out” crap.

[q_an_a]

See if this will help settle when tort reform was started

http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/George_W__Bush_Government_Reform.htm

If Perry is running on the issue of he started it - then you should be fully aware that he is only a politican - part of our present problem - he is no reformer. He doubled the size of government, but our population did not double. He grabbed land for a toll road - he sold to a spanish company.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Perry has never said this was HIS.

He says things like, “Here in TX we...”

This issue has been around for a long time.

I remember billboards around Houston about lawsuit abuse.

I’ve had an attorney ask a jury pool I was in during voir dier if we’d seen lawsuit abuse signs.

Well we sure has hell did, and we LOVED them.

There’s a lot of credit to go around — and a LOT of it goes to Rick Perry.

[q_an_a]

I respect your views on many topics - on Perry you are a little unenlightened. To say that there is plenty of credit is like saying the guy who picked the paint color on the golden gate bridge was as important as the man who designed it or the manager that ran the crews. Perry picks paint colors - he is no conservative he is a politician saying what people want to hear.