Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Rick Perry's entry is no surprise; his skill will be — to some
Corpus Christi Caller ^ | August 16, 2011 | Editiorial Board

Posted on 08/16/2011 1:52:40 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

CORPUS CHRISTI — On Saturday, Gov. Rick Perry acknowledged what many Texans have known for two years at least — that he's running for president. To buy into the notion that he finally gave in to the urging of his legions of supporters (especially his wife), or heeded a call from a higher power, requires a suspension of reality that would overtax the truest of his believers. And Perry doesn't like to tax.

It has been pointed out that now Perry is in for some serious scrutiny — the inferences being that it hasn't already happened here in Texas and that he might not hold up to it. Yes, he will face scrutiny and, yes, flaws, failures and contradictions will be found. Already the national press has noted that the Texas job creation he touts is primarily low-wage. Texans will remember and the nation may learn of his Trans-Texas Corridor toll-road debacle. Enterprising investigative journalists might enjoy poking into the lack of accountability for the Texas Tomorrow Fund he controls and no doubt they will point out the correlation between receiving an investment from the fund and being a Perry donor.

We'll boil down this incomplete list of warts to one contradictory thematic: Perry the private-enterprise/limited-government champion is a career politician who has cashed a government paycheck pretty much all of his adult life.

But we could — and the national news media should — pick apart every presidential candidate and point out reasons not to vote for him or her. The question remains: Can Perry stand up to it?

Only he can answer it, but if past behavior is an indicator, all who doubt him are in for a surprise. Our own experience says he deserves much scrutiny and criticism and that the possibility of him as the Republican nominee — and as president — is real.

Doubters should ask Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Last year, she looked like the gubernatorial candidate to end his career — on paper, until he wadded her up in the primary. He out-campaigned her and — this is the hard part for critics including ourselves to accept — outsmarted her.

He has never lost an election. Luck is among the reasons. Dumb luck is not. He has an instinct for knowing voters' hearts and minds before they and his opponents do.

He's a scripted candidate who refused to debate his Democratic gubernatorial challenger and wouldn't meet with newspaper editorial boards. Those who interpret that as an inability to think on his feet, veer from his script or win a debate should prepare for a surprise.

Perry already surprised the national media by attracting 30,000 people to his Aug. 6 prayer meeting in Houston. The media predictions were less than a third of that. What before was deemed a foolish gamble that would fail became, in hindsight, a bold stroke and a success.

Throwing in with the extremely evangelical Christian element appears now to be an inspired move to win the nomination that could turn into a liability in a general election. That's a logical viewpoint. It might be more logical to entertain the possibility that Perry has figured out something that logical viewpoint-holders don't know. Those 30,000 participants aren't 30,000 maybes and they aren't just votes. They'll be 30,000 zealous volunteers. They may not outnumber those who disagree with them but Perry probably has calculated that, on Election Day, they will.

Those — we — who suspect cynicism in Perry's courting of the evangelicals can't deny that he has proved to them that they can count on him. He doesn't just know the right verses. The sonogram bill he proposed is now state law. They actually can trust him — and how many politicians can claim that, truthfully?

His biggest liability may appear to be the country's most recent experience with an ex-Texas governor as president. Or, that might prove as big an obstacle as was the name George Bush to the second one's election.

We won't address yet whether Perry would make a good president, other than to say we have been displeased with how he governs Texas. But he makes an excellent presidential candidate, as the other Republican candidates and perhaps President Barack Obama will find out.


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cutregulations; cutspending; lawsuitreform; msm; perry2012; perrybot; rino
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-93 next last
To: Cincinatus' Wife

“May 2, 2011 - The Best Cities For Jobs...But no place displayed more vibrancy than Texas.”

Nice filibuster, but I still haven’t found Perry’s name in that posting...and that’s was the point of my post.


41 posted on 08/16/2011 4:27:08 AM PDT by BobL (PLEASE READ: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2657811/posts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Ann Archy
What DUMBASSES thought Kay Bailey Hutchinson was going to beat Perry for Governor?? HAHAHHAHA....she didn’t have a chance in hell to beat him.

Isn't it funny? Even the great Roger Staubach was on her bandwagon, both Bushes and the elite of TX. And there wasn't a conservative in TX who would even think of voting for Kay Bailey. We were so sick of her. How can these people manage to live in bubbles when the rest of us have to face reality every day?

42 posted on 08/16/2011 4:27:59 AM PDT by Hattie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: BobL

You have no point but to campaign for another candidate.


43 posted on 08/16/2011 4:28:36 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: t2buckeye

“I would love to see Sarah Palin get in.... Perry seems to be the only other person who excites the REpublicans.”

Yea, like I say, if Perry is the Republican nominee in November of 2008, I’ll vote for him (given the alternative). I’ll just have to hope that the Republicans in the House (and maybe Senate), and the Democrats, for that matter, can keep him on a short leash. They certainly had a tough time trying to do that here.


44 posted on 08/16/2011 4:29:54 AM PDT by BobL (PLEASE READ: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2657811/posts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

“You have no point but to campaign for another candidate.”

Let me know who, please.


45 posted on 08/16/2011 4:30:43 AM PDT by BobL (PLEASE READ: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2657811/posts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
So, who do you want to be president?

Sadly, no matter what the response, it will be followed by a large contingent of Freepers who will tell you what an idiot RINO troll you are, and how evil, liberal and unelectable your choice is.

Reminds me of every other election cycle I've witnessed since I joined FreeRepublic in 2000.

46 posted on 08/16/2011 4:34:27 AM PDT by airborne (Paratroopers! Good to the last drop!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Condor51; ixtl; in_tense; sickoflibs; rabscuttle385; stephenjohnbanker; mkjessup; DoughtyOne; ...
Don't let that uniform fool you----Perry loves animals. PETA will be so glad.

Unfortunately, Perry's plans to be a veterinarian did not materialize....but he tried.

47 posted on 08/16/2011 4:35:58 AM PDT by Liz ( A taxpayer voting for Obama is like a chicken voting for Col Sanders.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
It's too bad that on every Perry thread the same 4 or 5 people show up and hijack it. I try to stay away from Bachmann and Palin threads and let their supporters enjoy.

Too bad their supporters can't show us the same respect.

According to these people Perry is an illegal loving,Muslim loving,reptile,slimy politician. He has however been governor of Texas for 10 years.

I am glad these guys are overreaching because when you see Perry speak, none of these Lawrence O'Donnell tactics stick. It's like their shouting "creepy liar, creepy liar,creepy liar!!!"

Oh hey by the way the guy that bankrolled the Swiftboat Vets is also a Perry supporter.

48 posted on 08/16/2011 4:37:27 AM PDT by normy (Don't take it personally, just take it seriously.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

PESKY TRUTH: Want to know more about Rick Perry?


49 posted on 08/16/2011 4:42:54 AM PDT by deport ( In Texas it's hotter than two goats fighting in a jalapeno patch.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: normy

They’re panicking because every hour Rick Perry is pulling supporters from their candidate over to his camp.


50 posted on 08/16/2011 4:44:44 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: airborne

"Creepy liar! Creepy liar! Creepy liar! Rick Perry is a reptile! He's a Muslim loving reptile who wants 11 year old girls to have sex!"

51 posted on 08/16/2011 4:53:22 AM PDT by normy (Don't take it personally, just take it seriously.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Liz
*** Don't let that uniform fool you----Perry loves animals. PETA will be so glad. ***

Don't get me wrong, I'm not mocking any College ROTC program. But sheesh, he should hide that picture. The Riding Pants look corny [It's pics like that why almost everyone hides their HS Yearbook Senior Photo :-)]

As to PETA: the gifts from this guy keeps on coming: Open Borders, DREAM ACT, ROOTY, and now this. Does he realize he's the Gov of Texas and not New Jersey or IL?

Texas has some of the best Largemouth Bass Fishing in the USA and PETA hates Fishing (fish have 'feelings'). And I won't even go into Hunting & Texas.

52 posted on 08/16/2011 4:53:48 AM PDT by Condor51 (The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits [A.Einstein])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: BobL

Because the nominee is not going to be a congresswoman or a guy who ran burger joints. It’s going to be Romney or Perry.


53 posted on 08/16/2011 4:58:53 AM PDT by Huck (Here's the bad news--Gov. Perry is the best we've got.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Huck

“Because the nominee is not going to be a congresswoman or a guy who ran burger joints. It’s going to be Romney or Perry.”

LOL. We shall see...but that hasn’t been decided yet.


54 posted on 08/16/2011 5:08:05 AM PDT by BobL (PLEASE READ: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2657811/posts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Huck

>>>>Perry’s comments were immediately condemned by a longtime aide to former President George W. Bush, the man who first appointed Bernanke to his job.

“Gov. Perry’s comments about Chairman Bernanke are inappropriate and unpresidential,” Tony Fratto declared tonight in a tweet.

Fratto, a former Treasury Department and White House official in George W. Bush’s administration, Managing Partner Hamilton Place Strategies and founder of RooseveltRoom.net, a web site for Bush alumni.

Perry was speaking at a stop during the second day of a three-day campaign swing through Iowa — home to the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.

“If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y’all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas,” Perry said. “Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous or treasonous in my opinion.”

The audience applauded his tough words.

As Perry continued, he echoed the longtime critique of the Fed often articulated by Ron Paul, the chair of the House Fed oversight panel and a 2012 GOP presidential rival.

“We’ve already tried this. All it’s going to be doing is devaluing the dollar in your pocket and we cannot afford that,” Perry said. “We have to learn the lessons of the past three years that they’ve been devastating. The President of the United States has conducted an experiment on the American economy for almost the last three years, and it has gone tragically wrong and we need to send him a clear message in November of 2012 that new leadership is coming.”

Bush selected Bernanke to replace Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve. President Obama renominated the Republican economist.

Asked by reporters today about former President Bush, Perry demurred.

“George Bush is not my opponent,” Perry said. “He’s a former president.”.....<<<<

http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2011/08/former-bush-aide-calls-rick-perrys-treason-comment-about-fed-chair-bernanke-inappropriate-and-unpresidential/


55 posted on 08/16/2011 5:13:24 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Perry already took on the Bush clan during the Republican Primary. He beat their girl by 22 points. Are they going to go out of their way to push Romney?


56 posted on 08/16/2011 5:18:58 AM PDT by normy (Don't take it personally, just take it seriously.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: normy

Yes.


57 posted on 08/16/2011 5:21:48 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: reefdiver; P-Marlowe; wmfights
he backed Gore

They are not talking about backing Gore in the 2000 election against George Bush.

They are talking about Gore's primary run against Clinton in 1988. Then we had 8 years of Clinton as president. Then there was the 2000 election between Bush and Gore. IIRC, Perry had been Bush's Lt Governor, so Perry supported BUSH over Gore.

In 1988 Perry was a conservative democrat. You might not remember -- I don't know your age -- but Gore had always promoted himself as a family values, conservative democrat from Tennessee. He and his wife, Tipper, were famously derided by liberals for their insistence on labeling movies, music, etc., so parents would be aware of the filth in some of them. In fact, Gore NEVER would have been elected as a senator from Tennessee if he'd ever appeared to be a liberal. In short, he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. The "family values, conservative" Gore is the man backed in 1988 by Rick Perry. Incidentally, as part of that campaign Al & Tipper were acceptable people for Phyllis Schlafly and James Dobson, and their respective, Eagle Forum and Focus on the Family. Tipper ALSO divoced Al.

58 posted on 08/16/2011 5:25:48 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! True Supporters of our Troops PRAY for their VICTORY!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: reefdiver; P-Marlowe; wmfights
he backed Gore

They are not talking about backing Gore in the 2000 election against George Bush.

They are talking about Gore's primary run against Clinton in 1988. Then we had 8 years of Clinton as president. Then there was the 2000 election between Bush and Gore. IIRC, Perry had been Bush's Lt Governor, so Perry supported BUSH over Gore.

In 1988 Perry was a conservative democrat. You might not remember -- I don't know your age -- but Gore had always promoted himself as a family values, conservative democrat from Tennessee. He and his wife, Tipper, were famously derided by liberals for their insistence on labeling movies, music, etc., so parents would be aware of the filth in some of them. In fact, Gore NEVER would have been elected as a senator from Tennessee if he'd ever appeared to be a liberal. In short, he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. The "family values, conservative" Gore is the man backed in 1988 by Rick Perry. Incidentally, as part of that campaign Al & Tipper were acceptable people for Phyllis Schlafly and James Dobson, and their respective, Eagle Forum and Focus on the Family. Tipper ALSO divorced Al.

59 posted on 08/16/2011 5:26:00 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! True Supporters of our Troops PRAY for their VICTORY!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

I bought the “Perry-President” bumper sticker for our SUV.
(same logo as in your picture)


60 posted on 08/16/2011 5:32:49 AM PDT by submarinerswife (Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, while expecting different results~Einstein)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-93 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson