I would say he did not and would bet he would not today. Completely different people, Reagan was a successful man before he went into politics. Perry has slopped at the public trough his whole life.
Slopped at the public trough all his life? The Texas legislature meets every two years. Do you think he sat around? He was a farmer. He farmed. He raised wheat and cotton and cows. He drove John Deere tractors and went to church on Sundays. But then for some pretentious people, farming isn’t a business. It isn’t a job. It isn’t work. His experience in farming and the farming community is what got him elected as the Texas Agricultural Commissioner in Austin — his first full-time government job. He beat the long-time incumbent Democrat like a drum. It was awesome.