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You forget that Perry wanted the Reagan Revolution to be burned down by replacing Reagan with Al Gore.

I'm not sure that's the case.

Certainly Al Gore wanted to burn down the Reagan Revolution. But that's something that wasn't apparent in the 80s and early 90s ... it only started becoming apparent when Clinton/Gore won in 1992 and really didn't come out until after Gore (thankfully) left public service and didn't have to deal with the constraints of elective office (and vying for such)

I remember that time pretty well, because it was when I really began taking an interest (academic and participatory) in politics. Remember that Clinton and Gore were big players in the DLC, which was supposed to be the organization that would drag the Democrat Party kicking and screaming to the right and allow them to win national elections again.

As it was, Clinton and Gore in the White House quickly showed themselves as Left/Liberal opportunists. Something that truly angered and alienated the Conservative/DNC/Blue Dog element within their Party.

I was in DC in the mid-1990s, remember pretty well reading Hotline daily to see which Democrat (and sometimes multiple Democrats) had flipped over to the GOP because Clinton/Gore weren't what they promised to be. The big ones I remember were Richard Shelby, Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Billy Tauzin (a good, but my recollection incomplete, list of 1990s Dem to GOP party switchers can be found here). Nighthorse Campbell particularly, because it was so funny how CNN immediately flipped the "D" on his name (screen caption) to an "R" as soon as he said he was a Republican.

Given the politics of the time (and note that Rick Perry switched in 1989, according to the list. Well before the folks that needed to see Clinton/Gore in action to have their eyes opened), I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this particular issue. NOT endorsing him, just that I'll make my decision on whether to support him or any other candidate on different issues.