A lot of us in Texas who are conservatives will tell you the same thing, and would tell you Perry would NOT be a good Presidential candidate. And that he would not be the right ‘fit’ for it.
Perry talks a good talk, but is a politician through and through, and has his warts.
Tough on the border rhetorically but he and other texas leaders are wimps when it comes to getting tough on immigration. He was quite two-faced on it, calling for getting tough on border during an election then afterwards saying we didnt need a border fence.
His problem is the cheap-labor homebuilders who pay the Texas GOP bills are against real immigration enforcement, and the Texas GOP is afraid to go against LULAC and the hispanic ‘lobby’ for fear of the hispanic vote. it was thrilling to see hispanic GOP State Reps vote yes on Voter ID, but non-thrilling to see that even a watered-down anti-sanctuary city bill cant get passed and even a GOP-dominated Texas statehouse will keep in in-state tuition and freebies for illegal immigrants.
Great on lawsuit reform. Good on taxes. Bad on actually advancing conservative agenda elsewhere.
Take on Big Education? ROFLMAO. Another area where Perry = RINO Straus = Bush = ZERO progress. Teachers unions have great power in Texas and there is no progress on vouchers.
Perry’s not our biggest problem, its with the RINOs who gave us Speaker Straus and so we dont have any conservative leadership in the Texas House. Its pathetic.
There are enough former Democrats who talk prolife progun and anti-tax and think thats the sum of being conservative, allowing the liberal institutions to grow stronger. They are the problem.
Some call Perry a RINO. I wont. He’s good enough on life (passing many life bills), Tea Partied enough and talked up the 10th amendment enough to prove himself at least awake on the issue of state sovereignty. I dont know where the policy ends and posturing starts with him is my issue with him. But that’s the flipside of being a good politician.
Plus, Perry is an Aggie, which to liberals means “as dumb as Sarah Palin”. Well, Perry is a slick and good-looking enough they call him gov Goodhair, but dumb he aint.
I think a Palin/Perry ticket would could cardiac arrest in DC, and that elites would go bonkers. I’d pay money to see that but the risk is that the ticket goes down in flames as the northeast and suburbanites outside the deep south reject those cultural ‘vibes’.
Ain't that the truth!!! I could see that as a possibility and a very interesting one. Two governors from successful states. One completely gets in The One’s head (Palin) and the other has been sparring back and forth with the Feds and The One (Perry). Neither have any reticence about poking The One with a stick. It could be very lively and entertaining.
And...the ticket might not go down in flames. A lot of people across the country got on the “Trump Train” because of his outspokenness.
Since this is a thread about Perry, I will say he has not been a disaster as a governor, imo. No politician in office for 10 years will escape criticism. Is he a politician? Of course he is. It has been stated numerous times that the Lt Gov in Texas has the real power. He was Lt Gov under Bush. So I think I'll spend some time looking at his record during that time before I throw him under the bus.
Do I think he will run? Probably not.
Do I think the majority of the country is ready for another Texas candidate? I love my state, but probably not. Most are too far into “cool” and “metropolitan”.