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.
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