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5 myths about Rick Perry
Washington Post ^ | August 18, 2011 | Evan Smith, Texas Tribune Editor

Posted on 08/20/2011 1:13:35 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

You’re probably thinking, “I’ve seen this movie before: West Texas boy makes middling grades in college, gets elected governor and — to the consternation of gobsmacked Democrats, who misunderestimate his folksy appeal — runs for the Republican nomination for president.” But if that’s all you know about Rick Perry, you should be asking whether the country is ready for another White House occupant from the Lone Star State. The fact is, the most recent entrant into the GOP race is nothing like the caricatures being promoted on the left and the right. Here are some myths that need debunking, and quick.

1. He’s a Bush clone.

Biographical similarities aside, Perry is not the second coming of George W. Bush, either stylistically or substantively. Bush governed Texas with a light touch and had a good relationship with the Democratic majorities in both chambers of the Texas legislature. Perry is more hard-knuckled in his dealings not only with Democrats (now a minority in the House and the Senate) but with insufficiently conservative Republicans — what we in Texas pejoratively call “moderates.”.....

2. He’s a hillbilly dimwit.

That’s bias against Texas, pure and simple. Just because he wears cowboy boots and drops his G’s doesn’t mean he’s a dummy. Perry may be a small-town boy who went to an ag school (Texas A&M University), but he’s an extremely cagey and strategic politician who has been among the state’s most successful governors at getting what he wants. (Put another way: Even if he’s not book smart by University of Chicago standards, he’s plenty street smart — and street smart is still smart.) The better lens through which to regard Perry is inside vs. outside, establishment vs. anti-establishment, elitist vs. jus’ folks. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that jus’ folks is jus’ dumb.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 2012; campaign; gopprimary; laraza; maldef; msm; perry; perrytards; rickperry; texas; texican
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Laugh all you want. This wasn't in Texas, it wasn't going to bifurcate the town, the City Council was excited about the potential for more and better business.

The state?

North Dakota.

Now, if the NAFTA highway was just a conspiracy theory, wtf were they doing with dog and pony shows trying to sell it to people in places like Reserve, Montana, and Watford City, ND?

BTW, the UN's own Agenda 21 pages were pumping the idea as well. Maybe you should look that one up.

41 posted on 08/20/2011 5:03:29 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
gobsmacked Democrat

That sounds like the end of a Barney Frank, Anderson Cooper date.

42 posted on 08/20/2011 5:04:12 AM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: JohnEBoy

“Would they turn you down?”

I don’t know about Michigan and Illinois, but New York City would probably tell you to forgetaboutit!

Walmart’s been trying to get a spot for years, Harlem, The Bronx, Brooklyn too I think.

The people want it, of course. They want both the jobs and the shopping.

But the dim dem pols and the unions are dead set against it.


43 posted on 08/20/2011 5:05:48 AM PDT by jocon307
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To: webstersII
The MSM seems to be choosing him, so that means they think BO can beat him.

Last night I caught a rebroadcast of Michael Medved, and he was interviewing .... <drum roll> Lanny Davis, Slick Willie's impeachment attorney (none other!) and asking Davis, Medved's personal friend from the good old college days, about Republican candidates.

Lanny didn't have a lot to say about Sarah (oh, no, don't talk about Sarah, guys!), but he said flatly Michele's not electable. He said nice things about Mitt Romney, T-Paw, and Rick Perry, though, allowing for various missteps (such as calling Fedhead Helicopter Ben "treasonable" or some such).

Lanny Davis's imprimatur ought to warm hearts all over conservativedom for Mittens and Rick.

See, ya got to go after the middle positions..... the warmed-over mush of MOR Republicanism, "Me-Too'erism", "I Like Ike" GOP-ness. That's what sets voters on fire for the GOP and sets 'Rat whiskers twitching with worry ...... NOT!!!

Thanks for dropping by, Lanny ..... emphasis on droppings.

44 posted on 08/20/2011 5:07:03 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus (Concealed carry is a pro-life position.)
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To: flat

You CANNOT..in 2012...run ANY political campaign that is ambiguous about your immigration “position” in the current job market.

Unemployed Americans are looking for assurances of their governments’ concern about THEIR plight...not that of businesses forced into looking for disposable labor because of onerous tax and regulatory policy.

Illegal Labor is the Feds out for preserving the status quo regarding Taxes and Regulation...and is the ultimate litmus test as to the candidates in question commitment to meaningful regulatory and tax reform. If they are wishy-washy on the subject...they have no real intent to disturb the DC status quo...no matter how big their cowboy hat and six-gun.


45 posted on 08/20/2011 5:09:06 AM PDT by mo
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To: Yosemitest

I will vote AB0 in the General Election.

No one is perfect. No one on the R side is as bad as zerO. We have no idea how anyone will govern once in office. We have been lied to and betrayed by every conservative candidate on one issue or another. Our conservatives are picky and they can be rolled by the press. They can be manipulated into not voting, if there is no one pure enough to satisfy them. And if there is such a mythical candidate, they are destroyed by the media and therefore never have a chance.

However, we know how bad the zerO has been, is and will be. We have seen a coup over the past three years. Illegal immigration, to take your specific issue in your post, was at least stymied by the House GOP, so zerO simply used his Executive Powers to institute defacto amnesty.

You want more of that?

I know a lot of people who are saying “Let it all crash”, “Let people discover what it is like under communism, so they will rebel, we can have a revolution and rebuild on the ashes.” What if they don’t rebel? What if they can’t rebel because they need the Federal Government to eat and keep a roof over their heads? What if the revolution fails to materialize or, if it does, is short-lived and simply fails under Federal power?

I am not pushing any candidate, at the moment. I am old enough to be irrelevant to the progressives, anyway. But I will at the very least not be a willing party to the re-election of the zerO.

YMMV.


46 posted on 08/20/2011 5:09:42 AM PDT by reformedliberal
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To: Smokin' Joe
So, which candidate - now or likely to run and have a chance at winning supports deporting 12+million illegals?

(crickets)

None them. There may be strong sentiment for this among a high number of Americans but not among the majority of Americans. WE lost. Deportation is not going to happen.

The best possible REALISTIC solution, will end up being real border controls to STOP the flood of illegals, a system of worker registration, with some controls and conditions over who is eligible- or not- to apply for citizenship... maybe a decision to end or severely limit birthright citizenship (you think a democrat will lead that one?) And some return to ensuring national pride, assimilation and loyalty to the US are part of the citizenship process.

Plus a foreign policy team and ideology that stops groveling to Mexico, stops kissing up to other despots and radicals in Central America, and expects brown people to deal with their own corruption that is tearing their countries apart and adding to our own instability.

Oh, and defund and SCREW La RAZA.

So who do you think will serve our national interests better in tackling immigration and putting us on path to stop the abuses and to stop this being a destructive issue?

obama/napolitano/Eric Holder? or Rick Perry and his administration?

Some conservatives can hold out for mass deportation all they want. But mass deportations of mostly economic refugees in this day and age is not going to happen.
It's not the popular majority view, no politician will do it, it's not going to happen. Hold your breath until yo turn blue- it's not going to happen. Refuse to make a donation or to vote. Its not goinmg to happen. Elect Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint, Bobby Jindal, Paul Ryan, Ron Paul - or pick a name - it's not going to happen. Stand on the principle of deportation. It's not going to happen. The flood will just go around you.

So please consider voting for the guy you most trust at the floodgates. obama, or not-obama.

47 posted on 08/20/2011 5:10:06 AM PDT by silverleaf (The super rich do not pay taxes, they collect taxes.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Perry's knocked for the "TTC" but those who use it as a "bad" mark against Perry, don't know beans about it

They know more about it than you appear to.

At least Carole Keeton Foghorn Leghorn is a Texan. The King of Spain isn't. Neither are many of Rick Perry's other plutocratic backers, and the people behind the SPP/NASCO supercorridor, only the Texas portion of which was actually called the "TTC", "Trans-Texas Corridor".

Neither are the Bilderbergers to whom Rick has been busily turning in his annual report card the last few years.

Admit it. Rick Perry, for a conservative Texan, has crummy friends and worse backers.

48 posted on 08/20/2011 5:14:16 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus (Concealed carry is a pro-life position.)
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To: mo

If you read up on Rick Perry, one of the blocs opposing strong immigration control in Texas is the business community. Not big business, but small-medium business. This is the core constituency of the GOP. When it comes to business, a lot of these guys are “Tea Party” libertarians who oppose govt telling them they can’t hire competent people for the cheapest wage. They can foresee popular resentment of foreign workers waning when the economy improves, as it will- under the right administration. Besides, why impose a lot of background checks and other rules on business community when the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT won’t enforce the uS Constitution?

So what is a state governor supposed to do?

The “Tea Party” is not “one voice” on many issues. On immigration, they can’t have their cake and eat it too.


49 posted on 08/20/2011 5:20:47 AM PDT by silverleaf (The super rich do not pay taxes, they collect taxes.)
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To: silverleaf
There may be strong sentiment for this among a high number of Americans but not among the majority of Americans. WE lost. Deportation is not going to happen

Don't be so quick to spread cynicism and despair. Cynicism about major 'Rats like Obozo, Durbin the Turban, and Joe Biteme is well-placed, but not about people like Michele and Sarah.

Notice that Arizona achieved, in relatively short order, a reversal of the human tide into their State by passing salutary laws and signaling a new reluctance to assume the supine position favored by former governor Janet Napolitano, who is now a Major Offender and Codefendant in the Obama Administration.

Vote for the right Republican, you get the right policies. Seeing those differences is now seasonable, since it's primary time. Time to start seeking the right candidate.

And it isn't Rick Perry, by the way. He is part of the Open Borders Lobby.

50 posted on 08/20/2011 5:33:54 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus (Concealed carry is a pro-life position.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

If Palin doesn’t run, I’m rooting for Perry.

I just want someone who will punch the punk in the mouth. And Perry seems to have no problem playing hardball.

Romney will be a McCain repeat. All personal background will be off limits. While he’s called a crazy mormon.

I’m guessing if they go after Perry’s background, he’ll have no problem mentioning Obama’s 20 years in Wright’s church. As would Palin.


51 posted on 08/20/2011 5:34:44 AM PDT by nhwingut (Palin '12... Accept No Other)
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To: Yosemitest
He doesn't want to deport the illegals

Name one candidate that does.

52 posted on 08/20/2011 5:40:26 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: 1010RD
The argument about minimum wage jobs is goofy. A job a job and in Illinois we've got black unemployment in double digits and in some demographics it reaches near 50%. We could use more minimum wage jobs, but the above items are worth noting.

A lot of those minimum-wage jobs, and the better jobs, too, in construction e.g., are being taken by illegals pouring over the border. Newsies looking into the rumor have demonstrated that there is significant resistance in e.g. the building trades to hiring American citizens in any number of occupations. They want illegals, period -- a very solid preference driven by tax considerations, lack of standing to beef to EEOC, OSHA, or DoL Wage and Hour about e.g. short pay (shorting men on overtime pay is rampant -- a standard business practice), and general abusability (usually euphemized as "flexibility" or some such).

That's why it's impossible to get a clear picture of what the Texas economy is really doing -- a lot of it is off the books, and a lot of the wage-earners aren't citizens. Some of them are people who just pop over the border every morning to go to work in El Paso, Brownsville, and Laredo. Texas statistics are totally distorted by these Jell-O-y numbers of illegals.

53 posted on 08/20/2011 5:46:15 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus (Concealed carry is a pro-life position.)
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To: silverleaf
You people crack me up.

Choose now between dung and 'I dunno'. NOW!!!!!!BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS!!!!!!

Spare me that, I'm not so far from a cow pasture I don't know the smell.

The election is over a year away, and Perry does not have the nomination.

As if I'd have been on this site as long as I have and made the thousands of comments I have and would support obama over say, a roadkill rattlesnake.

We have cowboys up here, too, only ours wear the horse crap on the outside of their boots. It varies elsewhere, from what I have seen, and most who claim the title only own a hat. I have relatives and friends who have cowboyed for a living. It isn't work for soft hands.

I'm not even sure all the candidates have their hats in the ring, yet, and as I said, no amount of horse dung, polarized this or that nonsense is going to sway me in favor of anyone during the primaries. In fact, the more of that I see, the more I wonder if there aren't paid people out there pumping the next McCain.

I'm not sure that Perry or anyone else is going to deport anyone, and the current bunch won't even deport the criminals. Instead they're arming them. It really gives incentive to go back when you offer in-state tuition, something an Okie can't get, to illegals.

Interesting how shrill the 'supporters' are already when this guy just declared.

As far as voting for the person I most trust (to take America in the right direction for a change, of course) I guarantee that if I am breathing, I will. I'm not jumping in and waving anyone's flag over a year before the general, I'm shopping around. I'd like to see some of the current criminal administration indicted, tried, and convicted, too.

As far as mass deportation goes, turn up the heat here, stop arming the cartels there, and quit giving incentives for illegals to come here or stay. They'll go where the grass is greener and we'll save the cost of plane fare. In the meantime, as I have been saying since Clinton, close the border!

54 posted on 08/20/2011 5:50:19 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: silverleaf
When it comes to business, a lot of these guys are “Tea Party” libertarians who oppose govt telling them they can’t hire competent people for the cheapest wage.

Converse, however, not true.

Most Tea Partiers are not businessmen looking to hire illegals so they can short their pay packets in thin months and pay them off the books, or using phony SSAN's.

Most Tea Partiers recognized the huge burden placed on States' budgets by large calls for social services and education from non-citizens who are not paying FICA in many cases, or whose slumlords are underreporting cash receipts to the State treasury.

Big population of illegals = big social budgets + cash economy + undercollection of lawful taxes = higher taxes for legal Tea Party citizens.

Texas in particular has been through the mill on this.

55 posted on 08/20/2011 5:54:16 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus (Concealed carry is a pro-life position.)
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To: hocndoc; marbren
No, he added it to the Special Session after it didn’t pass in the Regular. It failed, again.

Actually, it rolled from the regular to the special session automatically because of the parliamentary error of the other side -- a Democratic senatrix from Fort Worth (deliberately) ran out the clock on the regular session, and because of recondite rules of the Lege, the bill came back in on the special session without Perry's specially adding it to the agenda. It came back in whether he wanted it or not, because of the way it died in the regular session.

That's what I read.

No credit for Perry, beaucoup embarrassment for Dewhurst and Straus because they had to kill it twice without seeming to -- like one of those Mafia murders where a guy keels over with a 14" carving knife in his chest in the middle of the street in broad daylight, while nine guys walk briskly away from him in all directions. That's what happened.

56 posted on 08/20/2011 6:00:08 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus (Concealed carry is a pro-life position.)
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To: silverleaf

‘On immigration, they can’t have their cake and eat it too.”

I’m not sure what you mean by that observation. Can you elaborate for me?


57 posted on 08/20/2011 6:10:33 AM PDT by mo
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
The Tribune is a PHONY Online Soros Propaganda BLOG dressed up to FOOL people.
This crap JUST Appeared out of NOWHERR and its content is 100 % assorted selection of Perry attacking pieces.
The thing is obvious a Soros or DNC funded operation!

It should be banned here.

58 posted on 08/20/2011 6:12:43 AM PDT by ncalburt (NO MORE WIMPS need to apply to fight the Soros Funded Puppet !)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I dont particularly like some of his policies, but I will say this. Judging from many of those photographs, THIS MAN IS 1000X TIMES MORE “AMERICAN” THAN THAT MOST ALIEN MARXIST IMPOSTER IN THE WHITE HOUSE RIGHT NOW.


59 posted on 08/20/2011 6:16:20 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (How even a WOMAN could fall in love with Rachel Maddow is waaaay beyond me....)
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To: Bender2

LOL!!

Great stuff!!


60 posted on 08/20/2011 6:17:43 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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