Posted on 07/31/2011 2:41:35 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
DENVER - Texas Gov. Rick Perry sounded very much like a presidential candidate Friday night when he blasted President Barack Obama in front of a crowd of nearly 900 conservatives.
In a Gallup poll of Republicans last week, Perry was tied with Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, even though Perry has not formally declared his intent to run for president. It was Perry's second visit in as many weeks to Colorado, which has been a Romney stronghold.
"Our federal government has grown well beyond its intended size and purpose so that it now threatens the liberties it was created to protect," Perry said.
He spoke for 18 minutes at the Western Conservative Summit, sponsored by Colorado Christian University, and he got an enthusiastic response from the crowd, especially when he targeted Obama.
"The mix of arrogance and audacity that guides the Obama administration is an affront to every freedom-loving American and a threat to just about every private sector job," Perry said.
But Perry also took oblique swipes at his primary opponents, especially Romney, with calls to elect "genuine conservatives up and down the ballot."
Perry said Republicans need to send more fiscal conservatives to Washington and more liberals into the private sector, "including the president, who would be a whole lot better commentator on Sunday talk shows than he is nation's chief executive."
Perry touted his formula for governing Texas, which he said includes low taxes, low spending, less regulation and discouragement of lawsuits.
Former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a native Texan, introduced Perry as "governor of the second-best state in the union."
Owens praised Perry as a strong fiscal conservative who vetoed $3 billion in spending.
"You learn who the doers are and who the talkers are, and Rick Perry is a doer," Owens said.
Earlier in the night, the crowd heard from former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who is a formal GOP candidate for president. Although the crowd applauded Santorum's speech, it didn't happen as often or as enthusiastically as during Perry's much shorter speech.
Santorum said he will be the toughest person for Obama to beat, so the mainstream media has buried coverage of him.
His speech concentrated on the role of the family as the building block of society.
"Following God's will is the path to happiness, and our founders knew that," Santorum said.
If it came down to it, I would much rather have Perry as the nominee than I would Romney.
The Summit wraps up today with their straw poll.
Perry's Colorado speech on YouTube:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry: "Let Us Restore the Nation's Principles - If We Don't, Who Will?"
I couldn't find Santorum's speech and they've not been posted speeches on the official site at this time (at least from my look).
Western Conservative Summit Live Stream
This is an earlier public appearance/speech Perry made:
Texas Governor Rick Perry - Tax Day Tea Party 2009 in Arlington, Texas
Tom West: I expect Rick Perry to muddy the waters and get quite a few votes that would otherwise have gone to Michele Bachmann.
Larry Sabato: He’s no Chris Christie, but Rick Perry will shake up the field. If he raises the money he needs, it’s possible the Final Two in March Madness will be Perry and Romney.
Ralph Reed: Perry combines an ideological, grassroots candidacy with the more traditional candidate who runs with money and endorsements. He should not be underestimated.
Scott Rasmussen: Rick Perry will enter the race as one of the top-three prospects (with Bachmann and Romney). Whether he can live up to that potential remains to be seen.
Dana Perino: The GOP candidates wish Perry would just decide if he’s in or out. The wait is killing them softly — holding back endorsements, fundraising, and the scheduling of events.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: Rick Perry will be yet another plausible Republican candidate presenting himself. May the best one win.
Mollie Hemingway: He’s comfortable with overt religious displays in the public square. That might help him win over evangelicals in a GOP primary. As for the general election . . .
Ryan Hecker: He has a conservative record, charisma, and deep executive experience, and he supported the Tea Party when it was not popular to do so. He has the potential to build real momentum.
Jim Geraghty: Finally, a conservative consensus candidate with a strong record on 2012’s most-important issue: job creation.
NRO: Front Page (bottom with scrolling photos) July 31, 2011 NRO
I'm really concerned about the donald because that lunatic could siphon just enough votes to put obama back in the White Hut.
Geee. I give up.
I'll bash Romney with the best of them, but this headline doesn't fit.
As time passes as the idiot in the White House continues to shape the US into his personal village, I grow less and less concerned with ideological purity. It doesn`t really matter if I agree on someone on all of the issues that are important to me anymore, but if I get the sense the candidate has his or her head in the right place and isn`t going to drive us off a cliff while shouting `But at least I never supported that comparatively-irrelevant issue!` If there is no country to speak of, almost all of my important issues are meaningless. I have been reading some on the candidates, and Perry is starting to look like the one who can actually BE a president. He is still not my choice, Palin is, but I`m starting to weaken my resolve. Things are very dire, and results are starting to be more important than intentions.
Right now it reminds me of two chihuahuas yapping at each other.
The enemy is OBAMA.
I didn't write the headline. Perhaps because Romney is thought of as a clear winner in Utah? The West? I don't know how Romney's polling in that region. Is there even a "region" anymore that swings to a candidate or party?
Oh! Thought of one. The South. Where people are flocking for jobs.
If it comes down to it, I will write in an actual conservative in the event that the republicans run either of these socialists.
The knocks on Perry are immigration, his democratic past and the gardasil debacle. Each have been exaggerated in what actually occurred and none are automatic disqualifiers (like gloBULL warming and romneycare).
Right now Palin and Perry look like our best options to win back the WH. Until either officially get in, I'll support both on FR. The antipathy of many Palin supporters for Perry is ironic too since Sarah Palin and Rick Perry have similar records and like each other as well. It would be ideal to have them together on one ticket and end the primary right now.
Not in the world of grown-ups. In the adult world the enemy is socialists, and merely changing the name of the head socialist won't help. No sale on any of the three, Obama, Romney, or Perry.
Yep. The GOP is out of second chances. They’ve behaved like the drunk who is going to quit drinking after this one last drink and we aren’t buying it anymore.
The Trans Texas Corridor land grab for corporate cronies scandal is as big as either of the two things you mentioned. Perry isnt going anywhere because people are tired of voting for crooks.
If 0bama=socialist and Perry=socialist, the word has NO meaning whatsoever.
We ought to have an FR poll to confirm, but it seems to me more TX FReepers like him than those who don't.
With regard to the general POTUS election, what percent of the voting public do you believe FReepers represent?
The world of grownups sometimes has to deal with compromise and planning for the next campaign.
Nit rummie = mini mac daddy.
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