Yes, I have. Very good exhibit on it at the Bob Bullock History Museum. Reconstruction ended in 1876 with the election of President Rutherford B. Hayes. Even if we go with your silly little 1972 date (which ignores the various times Republicans won Texas handily before that date), it still has nothing to do with a party switch that occurred in 1989. Wow, and I thought Obama was desperate blaming something Bush did 8 years ago for today's events. You're blaming something that happened 113 years earlier for Perry endorsing an envirowacko socialist? Maybe reconstruction made him endorse Giuliani in 2008 too. You never know.
>> Perry is conservative and fearless and electable. <<
Ah, I see the problem. You're thinking of another guy named "Rick Perry" that has nothing in common with the one currently in office. Reminds me of the "fiscal conservatives" who voted for Obama. Because the Rick Perry who's Governor right now is a gutless flip-flopper, a guy half your fellow Texas Republicans despise and who is lucky to win 50% of the vote in a 4-way race even though he's running in a state that always votes Republican (must be "Reconstruction's" fault he polls so poorly)
>> We are so lucky he is going to be our next president. You too, even if you're too arrogant to acknowledge it. <<
Yes, and we all get behind Rick Perry Fred Thompson right now, because he's the only one who can beat Romney Rudy. Once Fred gets in, it's a guranteed victory!!!
Yawn.
In you would like to know about the political history of the South beyond your current talking points that you’re sprewing in a misguided effort at unnecessary Perry apologetics I’d recommend contacting Freeper Fieldmarshaldj. If he has the time he could tell you a lot. And before you say anything I don’t care if you spent every waking moment of your life deep in the heart of Texas, there are people around here that clearly know more about it than you including a couple damn Yankees like Bill and myself.
While the south was 1 party territory most everybody who was serious about being elected was a democrat. That included conservatives, pretend conservatives, socialist slime, and everything in between.
By the 80’s 1 party rule was over in Texas as conservatives continued to move to the GOP, though rats still dominated most state and local offices. There were still conservative democrats in office but most Texas democrats by this time were definitely not conservatives and most conservatives were no longer democrats. And the national democrats had been under socialist control for close to 100 years. It made zero sense for a Texas conservative to be a democrat while Ronald Reagan was President and then endorse Al Gore in 1988. Perry was either not a real conservative or just cared more about getting elected or fitting in with his demmycrat family than ideology (or both). We’re talking about the 80’s here not the 60s. No excuses.
Him being a democrat at that time is not something that can be defended. It looks silly when people try. He left the party not the other way around (and it was the same thing with Reagan who made a genuine conversion from typical new deal democrat to conservative)
Anyway, back to the present. I don’t really give a fig that he was a rat when I was a little kid. What matters to me is his record as a Republican officeholder.
Perry talks a good game but he is your typical big government friendly Republicrat type. His record as Governor bares that out. Maybe a little better than GW Bush but not by that much. And he’s Governor by default because no one other than bottom-feeding socialist swine, RINO scum, insane kooks, or some combination therein (like Kinky Friedman) have ever run against him.
It seems like half of your fellow Texas freepers outright hate the guy’s guts.
He CAN win, sure, but I don’t think he’s so electable either. He’ll remind people of Bush and that’s not a good thing.
If it ends up becoming an either/or situation with Perry and dirtbag RINO Romney yeah I’ll take my chances with Perry. But that’s like a choice between a head cold and HIV. Don’t really want either.