Perry’s Path to GOP Nomination Could be the Clearest

Fox News ^ | 5-27-2011 | Chris Stirewalt - OP/ED

[smoothsailing]

Perry’s Path to GOP Nomination Could be the Clearest

By Chris Stirewalt

Published May 27, 2011 | FoxNews.com

Maybe Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he’s decided to test the waters on a presidential run just because he’s feels left out.

For all the attention paid to the presidential possibilities of two members of the House (Paul Ryan and Michele Bachmann) and a reality show host (you know who), you’d never know that the Republicans had on their bench the three-term governor of the state with the nation’s best economy and the largest Republican population.

But for some reason, when Perry told people he wasn’t running, reporters believed him. If Chris Christie even flies over Iowa, the blogosphere goes into meltdown mode, but the political press for some reason mostly took Perry at his word.

It seems strange that they would have.

Perry, who has been governor for more than a decade, is a favorite of the Tea Party movement for his tough stands on state sovereignty, border security, taxes and gun rights. Anybody who packs heat when he jogs so he can blow away coyotes that mess with his Labrador retriever and hangs out with Ted Nugent at a Tax Day rally is going to have serious street cred with the Republican base.

As the Perry talk heats up, these primary election positives will be reinforced by liberals who find his Texas-fried politics to be repellant. Every time Democratic cable news talkers remind viewers that Perry once warned that Texas might secede from the union if Washington kept piling on new federal powers, somewhere in Iowa or South Carolina a Republican primary voter thinks, “Not bad.” When Perry gets chided for declining photo-ops with President Obama on visits to the state, somewhere in New Hampshire a guy...

[matthew fuller]

"This is an interesting development."

Donald Trump was more interesting.

[af_vet_rr]

Does Perry get no credit for the business environment in Texas or he is just a worthless piece of slime?

Why should he get credit for industries that existed before he ever ran for an office? Texas having its own power grid happened long before he took office, technically before he was born, the oil and gas industry building up in the state were due to geography/location and access to the Gulf Coast, the huge electronics industry grew up alongside the oil and gas industry thanks to the location, environment, and access to large numbers of university graduates as well as all of the defense and space contractors involved with NASA in Houston. And all of that came long after Texas staked out its turf in the agricultural industry and after Texas already had a thriving port infrastructure. Given how quickly Texas bounced back from the 1900 Hurricane, it's a testament to the location and spirit of the people and the environment.

I’m no expert, but I thought Perry admitted defeat long before this.

He first talked about it in 2001, laid it out formally in 2002, and it finally started to really go down in flames in 2007-2009, and he was still making comments in support of it during 2007-2009. This month, all of the wording was formally removed, although a lot of us have a sneaking suspicion that bits and pieces of it remain.

[matthew fuller]

Excellent analysis! If the rest of the country seems to want him, and if it seems that he can win, I’ll work for him.

[Psalm 144]

I could not agree with you more. The GOP as an institution has reached the point where they must turn back to what it claims it is for, or pass a point of no return. So far, they seem determined to go forward as the lesser of the two big government, smaller liberty parties.

Contrary to many here, I do not think the GOP can be salvaged.

[af_vet_rr]

Since he has avoided such hot button issues I can only assume it is with the mindset that he will run for president.

I actually think it maybe due to him considering Hutchison's seat since she won't be running again. If he wants Hutchison's seat, it's his. I've thought that he would run for her seat, win it, and then use that to round out his resume before moving up to the national level.

I've got a friend who is convinced that Perry is trying to appeal to minorities for future races and support by speaking out against Arizona-style legislation. I don't buy it though. I know that whites only make up 48% of the Texas population these days, but that's not going to matter for several more years. While I think the state GOP could draw in a lot more minorities if it was more conservative, I don't think Perry is going to be involved in Texas politics past the next couple of major elections. My fear is that he'll make the leap to the national level taking a cabinet position that would have influence over transportation.

There are enough Democrats and RINOs in Congress to kick a national super corridor into gear if you got somebody like Perry into a cabinet position or God forbid VP or President.

[truthfreedom]

The first thing I think of when I think of Perry is “Forced Vaccinations” The second thing is trans-texas highway or something like that. I saw his picture, he seems to have nice hair. Nobody knows or cares. I also hear he’s hated in Texas.

How many articles get written with “Why (some guy you barely heard of) Will Win as the headline? And then the next week the same guy writes the same story with a different candidate.

Republicans never pick people no one ever heard of.

Are they going to try a new person every week, include him in the poll that week to see how they do? Giuliani just tested high. Why don’t they try Arnold Schwartzeggar? Just for the heck of it.

Can anyone come up with a list of Top Republicans? Republicans that everybody heard of. Not popular ones, but famous ones. It seems like the establishment wants to upgrade Romney. Just come up with some old dude that everybody knows and doesn’t hate. Dan Quayle was Palined </s> a few years back, but he was the VP, people know who he is, and they don’t dislike him. He was considered a Conservative. Lamar Alexander did pretty well in his runs for President. He has a complete resume. Some conservatives would probably object, but, remember, this is the establishment’s choice to replace Romney. To change it from Palin v Romney to Palin v (something more favorable to the establishment). Condi Rice is well known, not hated.
If you’re looking for more Bush plus Black plus Woman, perhaps this would work.

There are a lot of better names than the name of the week parade which this week includes Perry. See how good Giuliani did? The retreads with the name recognition. John Kasich? Steve Forbes? The conservative side is pretty solid, but Pat Buchanan?

[farmguy]

The only good thing that would come from electing perry to the presidency is that it would get him out of the Texas government.

[truthfreedom]

That’s exactly what is happening.

I recommend they try older names, they’re not going to get anywhere with these unknowns. Someone came up with Trent Lott. How about Lamar Alexander, Dan Quayle, Condi Rice, someone who has been around a while, is well known, decently well liked.

I mean, someone like Romney, but without Gay Marriage, Romneycare and Mormon. Any reasonably old and well known Republican who is not closely associated with things that Republicans hate or are weirded out by.

Age on election day 2012
Condi Rice 57
Dan Quayle 65
Arnold Schwarzenegger 65
Steve Forbes 65
Tom Ridge 67
Lamar Alexander 72
Pat Buchanan 74
Colin Powell 75
Elizabeth Dole 76

[GunRunner]

He's basically a Bush clone. Not the ideal model for less government, but he's been able to ride Tea Party sentiment into making Texas seem very independent.

I also pledged to always give Gov. Perry, for all of his faults, props for cracking down on the Chicken D's who ran to Oklahoma in 2003 over the redistricting battle. That is the day he won his stripes from me.

I don't think he'd make a particularly good President though.

[GunRunner]

Perry is far better than Rudy McRomney.

Let me add to my previous post by seconding this statement. He is far better than either of those guys, for all of his (many) shortcomings.

[jsdjason]

You continue to miss my point. The Texas’ governor has very little power. Rick Perry really hasn’t done much of anything. This is not a criticism, it’s a compliment. I give credit to Perry for staying out of the way. For example, he didn’t lobby for a constitutional amendment to impose income taxes, something democrats and RINOs alike have discussed for year. I understand Rick Perry didn’t build the Texas economy. I understand Rick Perry didn’t build the Texas economy. I understand, location, location, location. I’m just glad that he basically took a nap and allowed Texas’ economy to thrive. Now, go to google and find something anti-Perry for me to read. I’m bored.

[jsdjason]

You know what I just realized from reading FR. You can count the number of “conservatives” in the republican party on one hand. EVERYONE is a RINO, except of course Sarah Palin. Don’t flame me, I love Palin, but she isn’t the ONLY conservative. I mean it’s getting a bit ridiculous reading this message board. I’ve even seen people calling Bachmann a RINO. How absurd. I’m not sure who could pass the FR litmus test.

[onona]

Thank you both - you keep it coming so people hear it loud and clear !

[org.whodat]

Funny I think trotting out a bush compassionate conservative clone will get Obummer reelected.

[philman_36]

Before I give you my opinion the best thing for you to do is step back and ask yourself a couple of questions.
First - "Who is the MSM pushing as potential candidates?"
Typical answer - progressive Republicans.
Second - "Who is the political establishment pushing as potential candidates?"
Typical answer - progressive Republicans.
Third - "Who do those groups not want as potential candidates?
There's only a couple of people who fit that bill.

That just made me want to hear more from Texas Freepers about how they feel about Rick Perry running for President.
I want him voted out of office as Governor. Why would I want to vote him in as POTUS?
In my book he is nothing more than a party swapping, go the way the wind blows progressive Republican. If you look up "political expediency" you get a picture of him as a result.
The only way he has kept his office this long is because people worse than him run against him.

Here, here, and here for a quickly put together series of replies.
No, Mr. Goodhair is not for me. In the end, look into the man yourself (don't look at his campaign sites as those will naturally be glowing endorsements) and make your own decision.
His position on the Trans-Texas Corridor, signing the bill for in State tuition for illegal aliens, his wishy-washy border attitude and the HPV vaccination mandated for girls are some of the worst things he's done.
And the most glaring hit on him was this just today...
...he doesn't appear able to grasp the most elemental concepts of America's form of government

[Rick_Michael]

To me a rhino is only someone whom was mostly liberal and acts like a conservative (at times). Like Romney or McCain. But other than that, I think most republicans are right leaners...everything about Perry indicates he’s on the right of GWB and left of Palin. Romney and McCain being the left-wing of the party. Romney’s a more convincing rhino. No one here ever believed McCain was conservative. I’d support almost anyone...if it means Obama leaving...although I don’t know if I could vote for Romney.

My view is Perry/Palin...Palin/Rubio....then Rubio/””. If Perry starts it off, we could have a long-string of right presidents. If Palin gets it and can garner enough indies...then I’m all for that as well. And yeah, I wouldn’t pass some Freepers identification of conservative, either.

Ultimately I support conservative judicial picks the most. They have the biggest effect on the country in the long-run.

[af_vet_rr]

I'm not missing your point. Perry had his hands tied when it comes to much of the Texas economy . If people want to give him credit for the economy, then they might as well give the Democrats credit for much of the Texas economy since they were in the Governor's seat for well over 80 years of the 20th Century when our current economy was being built. It's foolish to assign such credit either way.

On the other hand, Perry exercised the power and influence that he did have, whether it was forced vaccines for 12 year old girls for sexually transmitted diseases, or the corridor nonsense, or campaigning for Rudy Giuilani or pushing back against Arizona-style immigration legislation, or failing to support hot-button issues in the legislature that were dear to us Conservatives.

If he truly had no power or influence, we wouldn't be angry over the attempt at forced vaccines on 12 year old girls, or the corridor stuff, and so on. We wouldn't be pissed that he instantly gave Giuliani's campaign in 2008 a lot more credibility by being the first sitting Governor to endorse a Republican candidate.

[philman_36]

Earlier today...
Texas is those things in spite of Perry, not because of Perry.

[af_vet_rr]

There was a good thread on FReep a few years ago discussing that perhaps Conservatives are the true RINOs since we seem so outnumbered at times. McCain getting the nomination was a good indicator of our influence, or lack of.

[no dems]

He’s my governor too and I agree with TexasKamaAina, BobL and Okie01. Guv dude is a light-weight; an empty suit. Only reason he keeps getting reelected is because this is a strong GOP State.