Gov. Rick Perry of Texas campaigning in Wilton, Iowa, last week.
Posted on 10/25/2011 2:33:16 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
He may be able to boast about his successes in Texas political life, but there’s one group of Texans that hasn’t exactly rushed to embrace Rick Perry: the Lone Star State’s congressional delegation.
In the 10 weeks since Perry joined the race, endorsements from Texas Republicans on Capitol Hill have been slow coming, a muted expression of support that reveals the lingering tensions between the state’s executive and its representation in Washington. Whether it’s disagreements over earmarks or a clash over the bank bailout, there’s a sense on Capitol Hill that Perry hasn’t worked to build close relationships with the lawmakers in Washington.
Critics say the governor’s go-it-alone strategy — shunning and at times angering the state’s political establishment — has slowed his endorsement effort at a crucial juncture in his campaign. So far, only about half of the delegation’s 25 Republicans have publicly endorsed Perry, and only a few were with him since the start of his campaign.
Perry’s candidacy has also put some Texas Republicans in a delicate spot as they try to present a united front in the best interests of their state while smoothing over the raw nerves exposed by a nasty intraparty fight over his GOP gubernatorial nomination race against Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison that divided them only a year ago.
Asked to describe the relationship between the Republicans in the congressional delegation and Perry, one top Texas Republican aide on Capitol Hill said it is “nonexistent.”
Sen. John Cornyn is staying neutral in the primary because of his role as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, but he suggested the battle with Hutchison could have contributed to the lack of congressional endorsements now.
“Obviously, the contested primary between Gov. Perry and Sen. Hutchison was a tough one for everybody involved,” Cornyn said. “That may be part of the reason; I don’t know.”
Perry’s backers note that the campaign hasn’t publicly released its endorsements yet, and some are hinting there could soon be a more unified push to show support for the governor.
Mark Miner, spokesman for Perry, denied that there was lingering ill will between members of the delegation and the governor in the aftermath of the Hutchison race, saying that the “race is over with, and people have moved on.”
“We’ve only been in the [presidential] race nine weeks,” Miner said last week. “This race is a marathon; there is plenty of time for endorsements and support.”
But the tepid response to Perry’s candidacy so far — usually a no-brainer for partisans from the same state — is evidence of the rocky relationship between the governor and a number of his colleagues in Washington.
To several members, Perry seemed aloof and detached from Washington as he built his national profile as a champion of states’ rights and tapped into the growing strength of the tea party movement. And there have been several instances when Perry, then the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, headed to Washington for meetings and fundraisers without informing members of the Texas delegation.
Tensions with the congressional delegation boiled over in 2010 after Hutchison waged a primary challenge against Perry. Hutchison decided against mounting a challenge to the governor in 2006, partly because she was under the impression he would not run again in 2010.
When Perry ran in 2010, many of the members stood by their Senate colleague. Nearly half of the delegation openly backed her bid against Perry. Republican Rep. Mike McCaul publicly supported the governor, and the rest said they were neutral.
Some of the Texas lawmakers hated the nickname Perry backers had for Hutchison,“Kay Bailout,” for her support of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program in 2008 — especially since the bailouts were proposed by then-President George W. Bush — another Texas pol whose closest allies have famously feuded with the governor. And the lawmakers bristled at his caustic denunciations of Washington, believing his attacks were casting them in a negative light when they were opposing much of President Barack Obama’s agenda.
It’s clear the attacks have had an effect.
“Oh, really, I don’t have a comment on that,” Hutchison said when approached by a POLITICO reporter about the delegation’s relationship with Perry. Asked later about Perry’s candidacy, Hutchison waved her hand, smiled and didn’t say a word.
Hutchison also seems unlikely to endorse him in the primary, telling MSNBC that she’ll support whoever wins the GOP nomination and is “looking” for Perry’s opinion on federal issues.
“I don’t know what they are, because he’s been critical of the federal government,” said Hutchison, who is retiring next year.
The House members are in a more difficult position.
Rep. John Carter, who endorsed Hutchison in the gubernatorial primary and Perry in the presidential primary, said he believes the delegation has a “good” relationship with the governor now.
“I didn’t support him previously, but I support him now wholeheartedly,” said Carter, who appeared on the campaign trail with Perry after he won the gubernatorial nomination last year.
Texas freshman Rep. Bill Flores, who backed Hutchison and has sent a check to Perry’s campaign, argued that the state’s accomplishments are among Perry’s most powerful arguments for his candidacy.
“The Texas story is obviously one that you can’t argue with in terms of job creation and setting the right regulatory environment,” he said.
Rep. Randy Neugebauer, who also endorsed Hutchison in the gubernatorial primary, said, “He understood I had to keep my promise and word, but our relationship is fine.
“I can’t speak for everybody’s relationship with the governor, but the one I have with him is a good relationship,” Neugebauer said.
Even some of the members who previously vocalized their criticism of Perry are starting to come around to his campaign.
“The Texas model of limited government, reasonable regulations and lower taxes is exactly what we need to revive the economy,” Rep. Ted Poe’s office said in a statement endorsing Perry.
But the feelings haven’t always been so warm and fuzzy.
“He’s been making these comments with broad brush, denouncing everyone in Washington,” Poe told McClatchy Newspapers in 2009. “It’s inappropriate.”
Back in 2009, Cornyn seemed perturbed by Perry’s incessant attacks on the bailout package, telling a Dallas TV station that it’s easy to “second-guess” lawmakers’ decisions, and the governor should “be careful about that and trying to lump people into a pile tighter.”
Another Texas GOP aide on the Hill said there isn’t much “work being done by these guys on his behalf,” saying that Perry backers tried to organize some recent meetings that never materialized.
“There’s no love lost,” the aide said.
Miner said that the delegation has worked well together on issues like border security, saying that there has “always been a cordial working relationship” with the delegation during Perry’s 11 years in office.
But on some issues affecting Texas, there has been a strained relationship, including over disaster funding during Hurricane Ike in 2008 and earmarks, which Hutchison and several GOP members of the delegation had directed to Texas — and Perry had increasingly criticized.
“There’s no real evidence of a groundswell of enthusiasm up to this point,” said James Henson, a Texas political expert at the University of Texas-Austin.
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas campaigning in Wilton, Iowa, last week.
Individuals will have the option of paying a 20% flat-rate income tax and I'll cap spending at 18% of GDP.
I'll stick with 999 at this point.
Handful of patrons sponsor Empty Suit. Acrimony follows.
Santorum: "You were for TARP." Has proved to be false.
Herman Cain: "I wouldn't have Perry as my VP because he's soft on border security". Also proved false. Perry has done more for border security than all the candidates combined.
Mitt Romney: "40% of all jobs created in Texas went to illegals" Proved false before the claim was ven made by Mitt.
These bombs are designed to paint a picture, although I think Santorum probably just heard that somewhere.
Gov Rick Perry (then head of the Republican Governors Association) and Gov. Joe Manchin (then head of the Democrat Governors Association) wrote to Speaker Pelosi after TARP failed (Sept 29, 2008) and the markets were faltering, requesting:
[early morning of Oct 1, 2008]: "We strongly urge Congress to leave partisanship at the door and pass an economic recovery package...It is time for Washington, D.C. to step up, be responsible, and do what's in the best interest of American taxpayers and our economy." Letter
To wit, Associated Press headlined the letter: "Governors, Business Up Pressure for Bailout Bill"
Gov. Perry immediately issued a statement to make his position crystal clear to the spinning MSM:
“In a free market economy, government should not be in the business of using taxpayer dollars to bail out corporate America. Congress needs to take off its partisan gloves and work together to bring both short and long term stability to the credit markets. They need to stop blaming each other and start thinking about solutions that put the taxpayers of this country first.” Gov. Perry, Oct 1, 2008
It is intresting to note after spending 2 months doing nothing but dreaming up frauldent accusations to scream at every other canidate in the race, Camp Perry is now playing the victim card claiming they are being subjected to the same tactic their whole campaign is based on.
CW: [early morning of Oct 1, 2008]: "We strongly urge Congress to leave partisanship at the door and pass an economic recovery package...It is time for Washington, D.C. to step up, be responsible, and do what's in the best interest of American taxpayers and our economy." Letter
Wow! One of you Perry supporters claims it is false, the other one claims it is true. No wonder the Perry camp is in trouble. They cannot even get their spin lines straight.
When you post stuff like this it only strengthens my confidence that Perry is going to win. The Palin folks used to attack Perry ruthlessly. Once she left them at the altar they jumped to Cain.
If Palin had decided to run Cain would be the SOB.
Stick to supporting your candidate and defending your candidate. Do you see the difference in what your doing here?
Weren't you the guy saying in Cain's interview with Morgan, Cain was clearly talking about adoption? Then the next day, Cain clarified it again by saying he was talking about a family having the option of illegally aborting the child?
You actually jumped alot of peoples ass, mine included because we saw the interview and knew Cain knew what Morgan was saying. You tried to spin it. At least Cain had the integrity to be honest about what he was saying. For that I give him the credit.
That's why I don't hold the candidate supporters against them.
Rick Perry's Intriguing Idea for Bi-National Health Insurance …“Contrary to Sen. Santorum’s impression, the idea here was to explore the possibility of allowing private insurers to cover health services provided in either Texas or Mexico. It was an attempt at studying the deregulation of the provision of health insurance by private entities.”
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And it's rather interesting that legislators that have been making all the laws feel free to pass judgment on a governor who as been on the front lines as an executive dealing with reality and no true federal assistance to seal the border.
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And Romney was slammed by the Washington Post, of all places, for his debate remarks against Perry.
Romney’s problematic claims about illegal immigration in Texas
Two Pinocchios
"Significant omissions and/or exaggerations. Some factual error may be involved but not necessarily. A politician can create a false, misleading impression by playing with words and using legalistic language that means little to ordinary people."
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You just hate it when the facts disagree with your agenda and talking points.
lol
Hmmm..I missed those fraudulent accusations.
They really want to endorse Cain!
The last thing anyone who supports tea party ideas should worry about is what presidential candidate some congresscritter supports.
What the LIARS don’t understand and have NEVER understood is that these provable lies will be in very directed hard hitting Campaign ads etc. Unless the Conservatives, Tea Party and sundry voters get a tingle up their legs at lies being told to them (see:c. Matthews), they are finished.
I don’t worry about the GOP Leg. THEY are the ones that voted in the Student tuition rules. They are just running for cover. The Dummies won’t repeal it, so it is NOW a non issue. IF the Texas GOP Leg was smart THEY would repeal it.
A Bailout is a Bailout
Name 3.
It is becoming even clearer why Governor Perry has been voted in by the citizens three times but then also seems to have that slight undertone of rebellion coming from somewhere locally. Of course everyone would understand it coming from Texas Democrats, but this article speaks of the traditional Republican establishment’s fight against a possible president who could pull the status quo power rug from under their feet.
Texas has some Ron Paul supporters who are going to obviously prefer Representative Paul (TX) over Governor Perry (TX), and that is understandable, but that can be easily understood.
Where it gets not-so-hard to see at first but probably harder-to-fight is that we also have the establishment-elitist Texas Republicans who do not, absolutely do not want to lose the incredibly ingrained power they have at the federal level when Perry transitions powers back to the states (where they should be) and who don’t want to lose their ability to get in all their pork and crony projects with Perry’s new tax reform and economic reform plans.
These Texas elitist Republicans have LIVED through Perry’s three governorships as citizens in his state, and they understand more than many how Perry has honored the local and state powers over the incredible out-growth of the federal stronghold on our country! They have actually seen and experienced the strength Governor Perry has had fighting off excessive big-government outgrowth and the incredible fighting instinct he has shown to protect local government and citizens’ liberties, freedom, and strength in our country’s future.
I liked a lot of G.W. Bush, not all but a lot and especially his sweet relationship with the military of which my family was one at that time, but G.W. couldn’t separate himself enough from those establishment GOPers.
It’s easy to see some of this at the national level, but it was much harder for me to see how this also worked out at the local, state level where Governor Perry has been. The article helped me to understand that part of the equation a little better.
It is going to be really hard to get rid of those elitist-federal-government-loving politicians who want things as they are, or worse, and we need a president who will be extremely committed to taking the heat from those politicians who want so badly to hold onto this morphed government they have now and to free our country from this stranglehold so we can be the nation we can be again.
I am thankful for the representation many of our Texas politicians have done for us at the federal level, but dog gone if I want them to win a battle for keeping their establishment power in place for them.
Governor Perry, you may have the establishment Republicans nipping at your feet, but citizens of America want want a president that will break that establishment and give our country back to us! Keep the faith, and keep on fighting!
Sen. Hutchison would always fulfill her campaign pledges (or do some) just around re-election time — par for the course.
But the real kicker for me came, when Sen. Hutchison REFUSED, due to her friendship with Democrat FEMALE Senators on the Hill, to help campaign with GOP candidates running against her Democrat colleagues.
That Perry is an establishment RINO is a lie!
You no comprehende.
They want to endorse Romney.
People like you can't, are refuse to, see the forest for the trees.
Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Romney Perry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhQVAviVbg4&feature=player_profilepage
This will leave a mark
So you hate hispanics???
That is odd for you to say since you are one of the biggest ones throwing accusations and lies.
applause, thank you for saying that.
So you love illegals ???
That's why they all support Romney? Your ignorance is astounding!
Slick Willard or La Raza Rick, what’s the difference ? Two RINO establishment statists.
You are ignorance personified. Bless your heart!
Perry falls to fifth in new poll
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2797886/posts
Your pet RINO statist is DONE.
Not yet...and if that happens we won't be like the "groupies"...nobody will be crying in their beer like when Palin didn't run or when Cain runs out of steam.
It’s already happened. Given the hysterics you Perrywinkles have engaged in from the get-go, I’m expecting mass suicides.
But I haven't seen any hysteria from us Perrywinkles.
Hard to see a lot of things when you walk around with blindfolds. Hey, Billy, you want to give lonestar some of the Perrywinkle greatest hits ?
The TP does not agree with Perry on the big-government, nanny-state Gardasil debacle.
The TP does not agree with Perry on his opposition to the border fence.
The TP does not agree with Perry on his opposition to Arizona trying to defend itself from the ILLEGAL hordes that he wants to make citizens.
The TP opposed Perry on the TTC.
The TP does not support Perry’s warped view that anyone opposing instate tuition for ILLEGAL aliens does so because of the ILLEGAL aliens’ last names.
The TP did not agree with Obama and Pelosi’s stimulus bailout plan yet Perry took stimulus cash anyway.
Rick Perry is an establishment RINO and he is anything but in line with the TP's core principles.
You speak from experience...no doubt!
Indeed, from dealing with the Slick Willard and La Raza Rick disciples... The blindness and willful ignorance is astounding. Hey, you can support whomever you please, but just be honest and call yourself an anti-Tea Partier/pro-establishment supporter.
What I can’t understand is why you hate Texan females and want them to die from cancer?
Why do you hate families and affordable medications?
Perry found a way for those who could not afford cancer preventing medicine to obtain it if they wanted it and those that did not want it to by pass it.
What part of that pisses you off the most?
Cancer prevention or affordability?
Seems you only hate women more than you do Perry?
85 posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 7:45:27 PM by Eagle Eye (Proud to be a RINO.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2777844/posts?page=85#85
According to the US Constitution, it is the responsibility of the Federal government to protect our borders. Why do you hate the US Constitution and want to disregard it? ... And I never said Perry was a perfect candidate. He’s just better than the rest.
186 posted on Saturday, October 15, 2011 9:43:15 AM by gogogodzilla (Live free or die!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 184 | View Replies | Report Abuse]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2791477/posts?q=1&;page=151
Texas had been Democratic for 100 years, and was just realigning to Republicans. Heck, Reagan might not have voted for Reagan
42 posted on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 4:19:54 AM by Steel Wolf (”Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.” - Gaius Sallustius Crispus)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies | Report Abuse]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2764245/posts
Cain may be even worse than Obama for the economy.
50 posted on Thursday, October 13, 2011 10:35:30 AM by marty60
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2792104/posts?page=50#50
We already have a “conservative” black man in the WH. Remember that Obama ran as a conservative democrate. Neither one of them had a track record of voting to back up their words, both of them began being worshiped abroad (Obama in Germany and Cain in Japan).
52 posted on Sunday, October 09, 2011 8:01:42 AM by McGavin999
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2790087/posts?page=100#52
We have been telling you, but your only interest is smearing and trashing Perry. By the way, have not seen any Perry supporters trashing Cain. Apparently, that is just in your mind. I doubt that Mr. Cain would be very proud of what you have been doing in his name to Governor Perry.
133 posted on Saturday, October 15, 2011 8:39:37 PM by Grey Eagle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies | Report Abuse]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2793279/posts?q=1&;page=101
Damned Yankee Liberals just don’t like Texans or Christians. They don’t understand either mindset, much less both.
32 posted on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 4:05:59 PM by TexasRepublic (Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2765112/posts#32
As a Texan (not by birth, by choice), I can’t see any candidate that would do more to secure the border than Perry.
“?32 posted on Sunday, September 18, 2011 6:04:43 AM by She hits a grand slam tonight
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2780082/posts
The Al Gore of 1988 was a different animal. Pro-life, not pro-gay, conservative on defense, pro-economic growth. Heck, I’d vote for Gore circa 1988.
3 posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2011 6:19:35 PM by boop (”Let's just say they'll be satisfied with LESS”... Ming the Merciless)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2775072/posts?page=3
He won’t be getting your vote. I wouldn’t want it if I were Rick Perry. I would be proud not to get it. In addition, just so you know, I don’t come on here to get Rick Perry votes.
49 posted on Sunday, September 18, 2011 7:14:55 AM by txrangerette (”...HOLD TO THE TRUTH; SPEAK WITHOUT FEAR.” - Glenn Beck)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2780082/posts
I’m so disgusted with the way that the anti-immigration bigots rear their ugly nasty heads at the mere mention of Perry.
93 posted on Sunday, October 09, 2011 8:05:08 PM by CajunConservative ( Leadership. It is defined by action, not position.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2790087/posts?q=1&;page=51
I was conservative when it wasn't cool!
Therefore, I know what I'm talking about when I call you ignorant. You are clueless.
Whatever that means. What is clear is that you aren't anymore, if you ever were.
"Therefore, I know what I'm talking about when I call you ignorant. You are clueless."
Thorough and complete projection. You should note many of your hysterical La Raza Rick flunkies have been ZOT'ted. Insulting others because you can't handle the truth makes you a troll.
You are ignorant or a liar. Simple fact because you don’t speak truth.
If thinking you're a fool makes me a troll, so be it. BTW, a lot of us "trolls" know you have no respect for the truth. Surely you don't think I'm the only person who sees you for what you are...and they aren't all Perrywinkles. You talking about projection is a joke!!!!
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