Posted on 06/04/2004 7:12:58 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Perry stirs up GOP convention
BY KELLEY SHANNON AP Political Writer
SAN ANTONIO - Gov. Rick Perry stirred Texas Republican Party fervor Thursday with sharp attacks on gay marriage, abortion and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
President Bush's re-election bid took center stage as the GOP's state convention began, as did the Republican effort to seize control of the 32-member Texas congressional delegation.
Republicans are aiming to win 23 Texas seats in Congress now that a GOP-leaning congressional redistricting plan is in effect. Currently the delegation is evenly split between the two parties.
Perry, addressing thousands of Republican Party faithful, said Kerry provides contradictory accounts of his support for lower gas prices and for funding the war in Iraq.
"No wonder he is supported by so many foreign leaders; he's about as decisive as the United Nations Security Council," Perry said.
Bush, the former Texas Republican governor, has led decisively in the war against terror, Perry said. Convention delegates gave a loud, standing ovation when Perry noted that the Army's 4th Infantry Division of Fort Hood captured former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein last year.
Kerry campaigned Thursday in Missouri and raised questions about Bush's military leadership. He said the Bush administration is relying on out dated techniques to fight a new kind of war and that it has instituted a "backdoor draft" by requiring thousands of soldiers to stay in the military longer than scheduled.
In his speech, Perry pointed out that Texas has enacted a Defense of Marriage Act that prevents recognition of same-sex marriages performed in another state.
"We protected the sanctity of a sacred institution, the institution of marriage," Perry said, to loud applause.
The Texas Republican Party platform committee wants to add a provision in the document urging that it be made a felony for a government official to perform a same-sex wedding or issue a same-sex marriage license. The platform will be debated by the full convention later this week.
Perry told convention-goers that he makes no apologies for his "pro-family and pro-life" views. He said the journey of human life begins "from the moment of conception."
Perry mentioned that a federal judge in San Francisco this week struck down the partial birth abortion ban signed into law by Bush. He said it's a reminder of the need to re-elect Bush to prevent lifetime appointments of "liberal activist judges."
Texas Democratic Party chairman Charles Soechting, responding to Perry's speech, said the governor's administration has demonstrated repeated failures. "He ought to take less interest in Texans' bedrooms and more interest in their classrooms," Soechting said.
While Perry talked up some aspects of his school finance plan, such as property tax relief and education excellence incentives, he made no mention of his proposal to legalize and tax video slot machines to pay for public education.
The Texas Republican Party platform opposes legalization of slot machines, and leading party activists have spoken out against expanding gambling.
The group Texans Against Gambling distributed fliers to convention delegates Thursday calling the use of slot machine revenue for education a bad idea. The sheet listed the Texas House members who opposed and favored video gambling machines in a vote during the recent special legislative session on school finance.
The Legislature adjourned without approving video gambling and without a school funding plan.
State Republican chair Tina Benkiser in her convention opening speech said she was proud of the party's growth and its record in electing minority candidates.
Republicans now hold all 29 statewide elected offices and have elected more Hispanics and blacks to statewide office holders the past 10 years than Democrats did in 120 years, she said.
06/04/04
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...i pray that Perry gets re-elected. there will be months of shreiking and howling from the liberals here in Austin after that happens which is music to my ears...
"Republicans now hold all 29 statewide elected offices and have elected more Hispanics and blacks to statewide office holders the past 10 years than Democrats did in 120 years, she said."
That line should be repeated over and over.
FOUR MORE YEARS! for Bush AND Perry.
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