Much as Perry’s slick media-machine would like us all to swallow that line, we’re not referring to a one-off ‘gaffe’, now, are we? We’re all human, and anyone could and would be forgiven for that. We’re talking about a permanent inability to articulate and ‘think on your feet’, to a level that make Bush, and even Obama, look like skilled debaters.
Beyond that, I have far more fundamental issues with Perry. I’m simply looking for a conservative candidate who
(a) actually believes what he claims to believe, and sticks to it, even when it may not be politically expedient to do so
(b) can beat Obama
Romney fails on (a), and Paul on (b). Perry (a man who served 6 years as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives, worked on Al Gore’s campaign, and then switched sides out of personal political convenience) fails on both.
.....Perry (a man who served 6 years as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives, worked on Al Gore’s campaign, and then switched sides out of personal political convenience) fails on both.
Rick Perry started as a Democrat in West Texas (essentially THE only party). He served in the Texas legislature - was known as one of the "pit bulls," conservative members who sat in the lower pit of the House Appropriations Committee and bitterly fought spending increases.
Perry changed parties in 1989, joining Phil Gramm and other conservative Texas Democrats, who now had a true ideological party with a burgeoning Texas GOP.
When Perry campaigned for Lt. Gov. [1998], he and his campaign staff were in it to win and his hard-nosed style was against the "friendly" advice and request of GWB [in re-election bid for Texas Gov] and Rove to run easy against Sharp, a popular democrat (and Aggie friend of Perry's from their A&M years together). Rove wanted to broaden Bush's base for his upcoming White House run. Perry told them he'd run his campaign his own way, because he knew the voters would vote for Bush for Gov. and then cross back over and vote for Sharp (D) for Lt. Gov, if he just walked through the motions like the Bush-Rove team asked him to do.
Perry won the seat for Lt. Gov. -- the first Republican elected to that office since Reconstruction. Now 13 years later and into his 3rd term as Texas governor, the GOP holds a super majority. So Perry has earned his conservative spurs -- fighting both parties!
[The Bushes and Rove supported Kay Bailey Hutchison's primary challenge against Gov. Perry in the 2010 election too]
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"During his time in Congress, [Al] Gore opposed federal funding of abortion, voting in favor of a bill which supported a moment in silence in schools, and voting against a ban on interstate sales of guns. His position shifted later in life after he became Vice President and ran for president in 2000…”…… Source
Gore his wife led the charge on putting warning labels on records back in the 1980s. In fact, Gore had an 84% pro-life record back in the 1980s:http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Al_Gore - According to ontheissues.org -- Gore had an 84% anti-abortion voting record and voted pro-life 27 times. Evolving Gore
Rick Perry: Al Gore's gone to Hell