Posted on 07/07/2011 2:11:15 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Should we be more amused or appalled at the prospect of Rick Perry as a presidential candidate?
Certainly, over the centuries, the republic has endured worse, most recently Ronald Reagan and Bush II. But Gov. Perry brings to the subject a unique political cynicism that would be fascinating to watch, if only one didn't have to consider the public consequences. As a young pol on the make and feeling the prevailing Texas winds, Perry moved effortlessly from conservative Democrat to reactionary Republican with nary a backward glance. Stuck behind and below the always anointed Dubya, he patiently bided his time while making little attempt to hide his sense of personal superiority to the GOP's favorite son. That condescension persists primarily in his approach to the press; where Bush was always shamelessly ingratiating, Perry can barely disguise his contempt for the same symbolic transaction, largely dodging it altogether in his last campaign.
He can get away with that in Texas, where the Capitol press corps is small and reflexively deferential. Royal insolence won't play as well nationally, and one of Perry's current hesitations is undoubtedly whether he can overcome both the dismal Bush legacy dragging down any Texan candidate as well as his own reluctance to reach beyond the hard-right GOP base, where he feels most comfortable and which – in Texas – has been all he ever needed.
What would he run on? In the primaries, tax cuts, religion, and fear of Obama, pretty much like the rest of the GOP field. Beyond the image of Manly Westerner, how would he distinguish himself? In theory, by pointing to the Texas economic miracle that took place on his watch, which has produced an unemployment rate a point below the national 9.1% – as it happens, however, higher than 23 other states, including Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Alaska, and even that liberal wasteland of New York. Even with the enthusiastic support of Fox News, it's difficult to maintain the fiction that No Income Tax = Jobs when it's demonstrably untrue.
Don't Touch His Junk
Or Perry will point to his sterling legislative record. Allied with a zealous GOP caucus in both houses, this year Perry emphasized the sort of right-wing-pandering legislation that has come to elicit shrugs and eye-rolls at home but will be much harder to sell nationally. While the nation is pulling back from Arizona-style xenophobia, Perry has pushed voter ID, minority-vote-minimizing redistricting, and the "sanctuary cities" mythology. In a Texas-peculiar hypocrisy, he endorsed a headline-grabbing "anti-groping" bill (for federal airport security, which failed) while designating as an "emergency" a law that requires any woman seeking an abortion to undergo an invasive and humiliating ultrasound procedure for no medical reason.
These are the sort of actions that have endeared Perry to the GOP's hard right, but in a national context, they can also become major political liabilities. The ultrasound bill is but the symbolic edge of an entire slate of health care cutbacks (partly financial, partly ideological, mostly aimed at Planned Parenthood) that will inevitably harm hundreds of thousands of Texas women. It will be difficult to talk around that outcome, and women vote.
Pray for Rapture
In a sense, all this reactionary playmaking was just a sideshow to Perry's main agenda: ruthlessly imposing $15 billion in cuts to public education, health care, and social services – essentially the entire social contract. Whatever one thinks of the politics, the economic effects of these cuts – especially to public schools – are going to hit the state hard over the next several months and will be difficult to disguise on the campaign trail as necessary thriftiness, especially as the consequent layoffs aggravate those unemployment numbers. Republican parents like their schools, too – and as teachers and support personnel disappear and classrooms bulge with students, the same folks who rallied all over the state will be reminding their neighbors of who was running the show in Austin.
Reportedly, at the moment Obama is out-polling Perry in Texas, which is unlikely to stand but gives a sense of how poorly the governor has fulfilled his supposed statewide mandate. Most recently, he announced a Houston prayer meeting in August, designed to shore up his evangelical credentials, although he seems to have done it in such a tone-deaf way – hooking up with an exclusionary Christian group that makes no secret of its anti-Islamic and even anti-Semitic inclinations – that once again, in a national context, the event may well hurt Perry as much as it helps him.
None of this is to say Perry cannot win the Republican nomination. It's no news that the field, handicapped by an increasingly extremist national posture, is extraordinarily weak, while the state of Texas is big enough to create its own political (and certainly fundraising) gravity. Gov. Goodhair can cut an undeniably photogenic figure on TV, and the considered wisdom of the observant Molly Ivins, who gave him that nickname, is that while lots of Americans can tell you how bad our politics are, Texans know from hard experience that they can always get worse. No small complication is that the members of the national Democratic Party may not know much, but they have proven themselves expert at losing elections. To paraphrase an even more cynical commentator, very few political consultants ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American voter.
So, while Perry considers his options, the rest of us can only wonder whether the rest of the country will seriously consider another Texan so soon after the expensive debacle that was the reign of George W. Bush. Much will depend on whether Obama the Compromiser can come up with a sufficient formula that at least salvages the economy for the next 18 months, and whether Congress can be made to swallow it. Those are long odds, and if they fail, they make Perry and his party's seem shorter and shorter all the time.
His spokesman explained to the Austin American-Statesman: “In the final weeks of the campaign, a better use of the governor’s time is to continue traveling the state talking to Texans about issues that are important to them.”
Frankly, Perry didn’t have a lot of use for the media — not after two terms as governor — nor did the media have much use for him, as most major papers endorsed his GOP rival in the gubernatorial primary and Democratic rival in the general election.
He further enraged the media when he spoke at a national editorial writers gathering last fall and wouldn’t take questions, prompting the group’s “stunned” president to send Perry a letter accusing of him of “disingenuousness” and going back on his word.
The fact is, Perry was so far ahead that he didn’t need the press, and he romped to a huge win in his reelection bid. Source
Vicious spending cuts? Reactionary Republican? As bad as Ronald Reagan? LOL. Makes me want to go out and vote for Perry.
His 2010 reelection campaign was based on Bush 43's 2004 reelection campaign strategy that was organized by Carl Rove. The campaign got volunteers to set up "home headquarters," and each volunteer who set up a "home headquarter" would agree to contact 11 friends. It's a very decentralized campaign that bypasses the media. Some of the people hosting "home headquarters" were celebrities such as Troy Aikman, David Barton, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Leach, etc.
Perry has the right enemies.
["Perry was part of the "Pit Bulls", a group of Appropriations members who sat on the lower dais in the committee room (or "pit") who pushed for austere [Texas] state budgets during the 1980s."] Source
Karl Rove claims Rick Perry as his candidate in Perry's FIRST campaign for the Texas Agriculture Commission. [From what I’ve found this was their only collaboration]
Perry was a Texas Democrat (not a liberal Democrat). He switched to the Republican Party in 1989. In 1990 Perry won the election (against Jim Hightower) to head the Agricultural Committee (a post Perry was well suited for as having come from a cotton farming family -- raised and worked the land -- and had a degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M). He was reelected in 1994 to that office in a landslide (62%). He did not seek reelection for a 3rd term and ran for Lt. Gov of Texas (1998), winning in a 3 way race, in a hard fought campaign against John Sharp (D).
["Perry thus became the state's first Republican lieutenant governor since Reconstruction, taking office on January 19, 1999 until his ascension to the governorship on December 21, 2000 upon the resignation of then-Governor George W. Bush."] Source
In that 1998 campaign year, the G.W. Bush camp (which included Karl Rove) was campaigning for W's reelection for Texas Gov (1st elected in 1994) and was at odds with Rick Perry's hard nosed campaign against John Sharp for Lt. Gov. Karl Rove told Perry to soft peddle to lift Bush's numbers in minority groups, Perry refused. Bush won reelection as Texas Governor. Perry won office as Lt. Gov. (arguably a stronger office than TX governor).
["Bush won by 1.4 million votes, Perry by fewer than 70,000. There were harsh words afterward; Rove and Dave Carney, a top Perry strategist, now are bitter foes."] Source
Then there was this in the TX Monthly about the 2010 governor's race:
October 2009: “....It would not be surprising to find that Karl Rove had a hand in this somewhere. The Bushies are definitely in the Hutchison camp, and there is no love lost between them and the Perry camp. The tension (according to Perry team members whom I interviewed on this subject last year) dates all the way back to Perry’s race for lieutenant governor in 1998, when Rove insisted that Perry stick with a positive message even while he was being pounded by John Sharp. Meanwhile, in the view of the Perry camp, Rove was trying to turn out Hispanic Democrats who would vote for Bush, even though that meant they were likely to switch back to the D column to vote for Sharp. The Perry team decided that they had to fight back, Rove or no Rove, and they went rogue, going after Sharp hard. It worked.
...If that animosity weren’t enough, after Bush was named the winner in December 2000, Perry was insistent that the president-elect vacate the governor’s mansion so that Perry could move in, notwithstanding that Bush wanted to stay a day or two longer before leaving for Washington. I heard that firsthand from the Bushies at the time....” -- Texas Monthly
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Basically, in the 2010 GOP primary in TX for the governor's office, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutichison was hoping to come home to Texas as Governor. Her election was being backed by the Bush family and all their power players were lined up against Gov. Rick Perry, with Karl Rove serving as Sen Hutchison's adviser against Perry. Source
Rick Perry won a 3rd term as Governor of Texas in 2010.
"RP65 - Relating to the immunization of young women
from the cancer-causing Human Papillomavirus.
Friday, February 02, 2007 o Executive Order
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF TEXAS
Rules.The Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner
shall adopt rules that mandate the age appropriate vaccination
of all female children for HPV prior to admission to the sixth grade."
The definition of mandate is a command by a person,
group, or organization (the 'mandator') to another
(the 'mandatary') to act in a particular way, or here
to ingest, inject, imbed a poison or other substance
they do not want and for which informed consent was
never taken.
Ann Hettinger, Concerned Women for America's state director of Texas, was instrumental in convincing Perry to change his proposal to an opt-in provision. When asked if Perry's original plans for the HPV vaccine would be an issue if he were to run for president, Nance replied, “It would've been an issue if he had not fixed it.”…..
However!
July 4, 2011 [Texas] Rule requiring drivers to prove citizenship now law As the House early last month debated a must-pass finance bill, one member slipped in language that puts into law a controversial Texas Department of Public Safety policy requiring driver's license applicants to show they're in the country legally.
The amendment, added by Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, to the education funding bill legislators needed to balance the state budget had originally been included in Senate Bill 9, the so-called "sanctuary cities" bill that failed in the special session. It also had appeared in an omnibus homeland security bill by Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, that died in the regular session.
The new law approved last Tuesday makes some tweaks to a 2008 DPS policy that prevents illegal immigrants from getting a driver's license and created a special license for temporary visitors. The rules require Texans applying for or renewing their license to show they are citizens or are in the country legally.
By putting it into law the state potentially undermines an ongoing lawsuit that argues DPS doesn't have authority to check legal status."....
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Rick Perry Says Texas Can Learn From Israeli -- August 2009 — “Gov. Rick Perry compared Mexico to the Gaza strip, saying Texas can learn from Israeli security efforts after touring a town that has been hit by Palestinian rockets.
Perry, who has demanded a heightened U.S. troop presence along the Rio Grande, went to Israel’s border with Gaza earlier with week and was briefed by Israeli Army officials.
...While in Israel, Perry also has met with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, according to his office, visited “sacred and historical sites,” including Jerusalem’s Old City, according to the Post.”
************
Perry voices concern to feds about anti-Israel flotillas -- June 29, 2011 ....Perry wrote in a letter dated Wednesday, “According to numerous recent media reports, American citizens and organizations, together with a coalition of violent anti-Israeli organizations from other countries, have organized efforts to breach Israel’s Maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip as early as this week.”
He continued, “The act of funding, supporting, organizing and engaging in these efforts appears to constitute participation in a naval expedition against a people with whom the United States is at peace,” as well as material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization and other violations.
Perry said at least two of the ships are registered in Delaware, including one named “The Audacity of Hope,” which was the title of President Barack Obama’s second book.
The letter concludes, “I respectfully request that the U.S. Department of Justice take immediate steps to investigate, enjoin and bring to justice all parties found to be in violation of U.S. law by their participation in these efforts.”
*********
2007; [excerpt] "Perry, in Mexico with a Texan trade mission seeking opportunities in areas like renewable energy, said the federal government’s plan to build a wall along much of the border to keep out illegal immigrants was “idiocy.”
“We need those individuals to continue to grow our economy,” Perry told a briefing with reporters.
“If you show up illegally, without your card or you’re here as a criminal element, I’m for throwing the book at those folks, but the issue of people who want to legally, thoughtfully and appropriately come to America to work and help us build our economy — we should quickly come up with a program and an identification card to do that.” [end excerpt] Source
*********
"......When Obama continued to refuse even five minutes for the Governor, Perry took matters into this own hands and was standing on the tarmac at Austin’s airport when President Obama stepped off of Air Force One. Obama looked confused, Perry looked determined. Obama still ignored the pleas for help.
Perry again took matters into his own hands, and established an elite unit of Texas Rangers to bolster border security..." Source
********
"Other states leaving Secure Communities (TX expands ICE program]--- "As Texas moves toward expanding Secure Communities, several northern states are dropping out of the program that matches the fingerprints of those arrested against a U.S. [ICE] database.
Last week, before Gov. Rick Perry's announcement that the expansion of Secure Communities would be on the agenda for the Legislature's special session, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced his state will not take part in the program...." Source [legislature adjourned the special session w/o giving Perry a bill to sign -- see 2 stories at top of this post.]
Of this 2000 mile long fence so many want built along our southern border, 1254 miles of it is lies in Texas.
Illegals will dig and tunnel, climb, swim, drive and fly to get to the out of control social services that Perry and other conservatives want to roll back.
Perry has asked for 3000 troops on the border, drones for intelligence and more.
June 29, 2011: Roger Hedgecock interview with Rick Perry (starts 1/2 way into audio file) Not a long interview but they talk about TTC and border security.
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Gov. Perry and The Texas Dream Act
[snip]
It’s important to point out that there is a huge difference in the Texas Dream Act and the The Dream Act that was pushed in Congress and failed. The Dream Act in Congress was full of all kinds of goodies other than allowing children of illegals to receive in state tuition. The Texas Dream Act was focused only on that. I happen to agree with The Texas Dream Act, and so did everyone in the Senate in Texas. It passed with ZERO “no” votes. Add to that, it has been proven to be successful.
These are a few things you need to know about the [2001] Texas Dream Act. The child has to have lived in Texas the three years leading up to high school graduation. These students are given no special treatment in getting into Texas colleges and universities. They must get in on their own merit. They are paying the tuition (with or without financial aid). It’s estimated that these students make up about 1% of those entering college.
[snip]
Most of us agree that border control MUST be dealt with first. The problem with all other efforts on this issue in the past is that the borders were not sealed. If there is anyone who we can trust to do that it is Gov. Perry (if he decides to run for President). He knows what goes on down at the border. He has gone there many times. He knows what needs to be done. There is no doubt in my mind that if he were President, he would seal our borders. But Perry also understands Hispanic outreach.
[snip]
http://www.google.com/search?q=AUSTIN+CHRONICLE+LIBERAL+NEWSPAPER&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLL_en
Thanks for posting this and the “Hate Groups” article. It shows that the MSM and the Left are very worried about Perry. They tip their hand when they pretend to be concerned about “what is good for us”.
Their concern is very touching.
I will strongly support Rick Perry if he ends up running and ends up getting nominated.
My shortlist:
Palin
Perry
Bachmann
Cain
I will strongly support any of these who run (2 already are) and win the nomination.
The only non declared candidate raising this amount of flak besides Perry is Palin.
He aint perfect but they fear him.
Among the declared candidates, Bachmann and Cain seem to have them all lathered up. Especially Bachmann.
I didn’t say that Rove ran his campaign. I said that the strategy Perry employed in 2010 had similarities to the campaign Rove employed in 2004 to reelect Bush 43, especially in Florida. Much of it operated below the media radar. DemocRATS couldn’t believe how many people the Repulicans got to come out and vote.
Bump!!
The MSM uses all the clubs in that Progressive arsenal to beat Republican's into submission.
When the GOP ducks these attacks their base wanders aimlessly.
Time to take a stand.
TURN OUT is key.
The country cannot rally if voters don't recongnize a strong conservative voice (showing backbone and strong, determined, pro-American bona fides) to cheer and follow to the ballot box.
There must be a landslide -- a mandate against the Obama way.
Rick Perry is no conservative - did he get any type of immigration law passed in this session...no!! GA and AZ have laws that the SC says is OK on voter ID or eVerify...the Gore TX campaign manager for 1990 did not do anything on immigration. He did try to grab a huge section of the state to build a highway - then sold the rights to a Spanish company. He ordered 11 year old girls to get the HPV vaccine with no hearing and no need for parental consent. He doubled the size of TX government and costs between 2001 and 2009. That is not a fiscal conservative.
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