Rick Perry: The Democrat Years

Texas Tribune ^ | 7-14-11 | Jay Root

[nixonsnose]

Gov. Rick Perry, a no-apologies conservative known for slashing government spending and opposing all tax increases, is about as Republican as you can get.

But that wasn’t always the case.

Perry spent his first six years in politics as a Democrat, in a somewhat forgotten history that is sure to be revived and scrutinized by Republican opponents if he decides to run for president.

A raging liberal he was not. Elected to represent a slice of rural West Texas in the state House of Representatives in 1984, Perry, a young rancher and cotton farmer, gained an early reputation as a fiscal conservative. He was one of a handful of freshman “pit bulls,” so named because they sat in the lower pit of the House Appropriations Committee, where they fought to keep spending low.

But Perry cast some votes and took a few stands that seem to be at odds with the fiscal conservatism he champions today. The most vivid example is Perry’s support of the $5.7 billion tax hike in 1987, signed by Republican Gov. Bill Clements but opposed by most of the GOP members. The bill passed by a relatively close 78-70 in the Texas House. Even without adjusting for inflation, the legislation triggered the largest tax increase ever passed in modern Texas, according to Dale Craymer, president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. Today, taking inflation into account, it would be worth more than $11 billion.

The Tribune thanks our Supporting Sponsors Craymer said the new taxes were used to plug a massive budget shortfall, with the money representing about 20 percent of the general revenue raised during that two-year budget period.

Almost a quarter century later, Perry, as governor, was faced with a similarly sized budget shortfall. But he took a markedly different tack in 2011: He opposed any new taxes, and signed a budget that made the first reduction in overall spending on public education since at least 1949.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said votes taken decades ago don’t undermine the governor’s overall record, which he said includes the largest property tax cut in state history, enacted in 2006.

“You can pull votes from the 1980s, but the overall track record is one of fiscal responsibility and conservatism,” Miner said.

As a House Democrat, Perry also co-authored legislation aimed at tripling the amount of money state legislators are paid, House records show. In a 1989 interview with the Abilene Reporter-News, Perry cited the financial hardships Texas legislators faced trying to make a living back home while making a yearly salary of only $7,200 as part-time lawmakers. Voters rejected the proposal in a statewide referendum.

Perry said he could make ends meet only because his father tended to the farm while his wife worked as a nurse in Haskell, her hometown.

“I really don’t know how people in the insurance business or the real estate business do it. That’s one reason I voted for the pay raise,” Perry told the newspaper. “I think all the people of Texas ought to be able to serve.”

Miner said Perry no longer favored giving legislators a pay increase.

Another political move Perry made back then: He was a top Texas supporter and organizer in 1988 for Al Gore, who ran as a southern conservative rather than the populist reformer he eventually became as the 2000 Democratic presidential nominee.

“I came to my senses,” Perry likes to say when asked about his Gore days.

Perry can trace his political heritage back to a great-great grandfather, D.H. Hamilton, a former state legislator from Trinity County. Perry’s own father, Ray Perry, served as a county commissioner in Haskell County for almost 30 years. They were Southern Democrats, from the party that produced politicians like Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Baines Johnson.

In 1984, Rick Perry, then a young rancher and former Air Force pilot from Paint Creek, about 60 miles north of Abilene, was recruited by fellow Democrats to run for a House seat vacated by Rep. Joe Hanna, according to interviews and news articles. Democrat John Sharp, the former state comptroller who was Perry’s old college buddy, recalls getting a call from Clyde Wells, then the chairman of the Texas A&M System Board of Regents. Wells wondered who might make a good replacement for Hanna.

“I said: ‘Yeah, there was a guy in my outfit who’s from Haskell. Let’s find out if he’s still in the Air Force,” Sharp recalled saying of Perry. “Three weeks later he was in the race.”

Perry easily won and quickly became known as a rising star in the Texas House.

Then-House Speaker Gib Lewis, D-Fort Worth, decided to appoint several freshman lawmakers to the House Appropriations Committee — members he knew he could count on to keep spending low.

“All of them were very conservative guys and had a good head on their shoulders, and that’s how I picked 'em,” Lewis recalled. “When he first came to the Legislature it was predominately white, Democratic, conservative. He was one of them, and I was, too.”

No matter the label beside his name, the news coverage of Perry’s early years reveals the same ambition and enthusiasm for public office that the governor has brought to the national stage as a potential presidential candidate.

In one of the first lengthy newspaper profiles ever written about Perry, in the Abilene Reporter-News, fellow Rep. Cliff Johnson, now a lobbyist and longtime friend, said of the of the West Texas farm boy: “He’s one of the top two or three (representatives) of the freshman class. I think the sky is the limit.”

Perry’s wife, Anita, told the paper a few years later: “He breathes politics.”

At the beginning of his six-year run in the state House, Perry shot down the notion that he might switch parties despite his conservative leanings that put him at odds with his party leaders. After former U.S. Rep. Kent Hance of Lubbock defected to the Republican Party in 1985, Perry told the Abilene paper he was “disappointed,” saying he planned to “change my party” rather than defect to the other side.

“I want the left hand side of the party to make the right hand side of the party comfortable,” Perry was quoted as saying. Hance, now chancellor of Texas Tech University, said he remembers telling Perry, “‘Good luck on it. I don’t think you can do it.' … And sure enough he couldn’t.’’

The gap was obvious by 1989, his last year in the Legislature, when Perry carried a workers' compensation insurance bill that angered the Texas trial lawyers, then a much more powerful force in state politics. That same year The Dallas Morning News named Perry one of the state's ten best legislators, but he was ripped by another publication.

The liberal Texas Observer called Perry the “Benedict Arnold of the Democratic Party” for siding too often with Clements, the Republican governor, and not enough with his Democratic colleagues.

“If the Texas Observer ever says anything good about me, then I’ve been hit on the head and they can send me back home,” Perry quipped.

Rumors that Perry would defect to the GOP — and run against populist Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower — picked up steam by late 1989. On Sept. 29, 1989, he made it official at a Capitol press conference. At his side were GOP chairman Fred Meyer and U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, a former Democrat who was aggressively courting would-be converts.

“I intend to vote the same convictions,” Perry said. “The only difference is there will be an R beside my name.”

Perry’s timing, now legendary, could not have been better. He was one of only two Republicans elected to nonjudicial statewide office in 1990. Eight years later, Republicans swept every one of them.

“Perry has been a risk taker,” said Hance, the party-switcher who became Texas Tech chancellor. “And if you look at Perry’s timing in every race, he’s been the golden guy.”

Chris Hooks contributed to this report.

[Enough is ENOUGH]

f/m/i

“The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” - Vladimir Lenin quote

“The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency” - Vladimir Lenin quote

Bernanke along with Obama are right on schedule to destroy our country. I agree, Perry is damn right about what he said about Bernanke.

[Tempest]

Seriously, you haven’t done any homework if you think he’s the best choice amongst the existing field. He’s one tick above Romney, barely.

[Tempest]

Seriously, you haven’t done any homework if you think he’s the best choice amongst the existing field. He’s one tick above Romney, barely.

[Marty62]

Exactly. And he was a Goldwater Republican when he grew up.

[ansel12]

Even more than a Goldwater Republican, Reagan campaigned for Eisenhower in 52 and 56 and Nixon in 1960, all long before the 1960s, post 1960s, Democrat party.

A very long time before the Reagan Revolution.

[sasquatch]

When you 'cut and paste' you might include one of the more pertinent parts of the reply.

Churchill, perhaps:

The 'perhaps' indicates uncertainty.

[ansel12]

I was using the quote that you wanted to speak for you, where it originated is meaningless.

This is how I responded to your stupid quote.

‘”A stupid quote, and not true.
In 1984 when Perry was signing up to become a Democrat leader and the rest of Texas was supporting Reagan, Perry was 34 years old, he was not a kid, in 1988 when he was fighting for Gore he was 38, in 2008 when he was fighting for Giuliani, he was almost 60 years old.”.”’

[sasquatch]

Have a nice day.

[ansel12]

Thank you for your response to post 87.

[Impy]

They say the Bushes hate Perry. Of course publicly he’s gonna kiss Bush’s butt. He owes him for his current job.

I don’t know what the alleged cause of the supposed bad blood is but whether they like each other or not doesn’t mean they don’t share bad policy positions. It’s often personal with politicians who don’t get along. The Bush family is notorious for holding grudges against those that cross them. It wouldn’t even shock me if it was one-way hate maybe Perry doesn’t even know what he did to upset Bush. Maybe he’s mad that Perry the democrat undermined his father in 1988. Doesn’t really matter to me.

I wish certain Southerners knew as much about the political history of their own states as they claim. Just cause you live somewhere doesn’t necessarily mean you know jack.

How conservative Perry was aside, Gore wasn’t conservative or moderate either (least or 2nd least liberal democrat that ran that year but still liberal) and Perry was a loyal solider. Dare I suggest if rat prospects in Texas hadn’t nosedived Rick may never left that party? Perhaps he saw the writing on the wall when Lloyd Bentsen didn’t help Dukakis at all. I can’t read his mind but he seems like that type to me. They come in all ideological stripes but their main concern is their own power and success.

But who cares about that Sudetland, how about the last ten years of mediocrity? How about the tuition for illegals? Hmm? His record as a Republican Governor is more important than the late 80’s and it’s not the best story.

And yes tolls are taxes. Ever miss the last exit and get stuck on toll road you intended to leave?

“Other states did worse” is not much of a defense, most of those other states have been run by marxists. Conservative Texas with the rats finally ousted from the state house could have done better than it has done under Perry’s governorship.

[fieldmarshaldj]

I find it singularly absurd that Texas has not implemented term limits for Governor. If he remains until the end of his current term in January 2015, he will have served just over 14 years. That’s almost as long as Nelson Rockefeller served (continuously) before he resigned halfway through his 4th term, and you saw the damage he caused with his obscene spending. 8 years is quite enough, and in some cases, far too long. He should’ve retired in 2006.

[Sudetenland]

You began your uninformed screed with a falsehood, Perry holds his job not because of Bush, but in spite of him. You are a legend in your own mind. Clearly you know less about Texas and Perry than Texans do--or, in fact, most of his supporters do.

But please, don't bother to make any effort to inform yourself, just go on parroting the lies you hear, that's so much easier than learning the facts. Willful ignorance is the most contemptible state in which one can exist and Perry haters invariably occupy that ground in spades.

There's nothing more amusing than reading the blatherings of some blowhard, smug in his own ignorance, when he's pontificating and expounding on a subject about which he knows nothing by his own admission. LOL! I believe the proper response it "Thank-you for sharing." Having shared your "brilliant, but uninformed, insight," you may now go back to picking your nose and scratching your butt (or is that backwards, one never knows with a self-anointed expert).

"I wish certain Southerners knew as much about the political history of their own states as they claim. Just cause you live somewhere doesn’t necessarily mean you know jack."

You are a perfect example of your own observation.

Thanks for the (unintentional)laughs!

[AuH2ORepublican]

To be fair, Perry’s record in Texas wasn’t entirely disappointing. For example, Texas recently approved a kick-ass tort reform law and has taken plenty of additional steps to make the state more attractive for businesses.

[AuH2ORepublican]

To be fair, Perry’s record in Texas wasn’t entirely disappointing. For example, Texas recently approved a kick-ass tort reform law and has taken plenty of additional steps to make the state more attractive for businesses.

[Impy]

Bush's coattials in 1998 carried Rick across the finish line for LT. Governor and his resignation made Rick Governor. That's all I meant by that. It's not important anyway, I was actually backing YOU up against Billy's point by illustrating that just because Perry publicly praises Bush it doesn't mean he likes him. (BTW I'd love to know why they hate eachother)

You are a perfect example of your own observation.

I can't be because we aren't talking about my state but yours. A LOT of posters are mistaken about what % of democrats were still conservative and how conservative they were at any given point of time. If it's just a talking point to defend Rick then get off it. Supporting Gore can't be defended and it makes you look silly to try.. You are hurting your own cause if getting people to support Perry is your aim. As it's been shown on other threads Gore was already pro-abortion in 1988, he took up that position after being elected to the Senate (fact, sorry). And besides guns (I'm assume he once pro-gun)I don't know of any other issues Gore was EVER conservative on (unless you want to call being owned by the tobacco industry "conservative"). In any case in '88 he was a lib, pure and simple. Admit Rick was wrong and move on to more important things like his record as Governor.

If it's not a talking point and you are genuinely mistaken I would guess it's because you are too close to it. Perhaps your beloved grandparents were conservatives but rabid democrats until the day they died? Well I'm sorry then but if they supported Gore too then they fell for his lies. Remember to this day southern democrats still lie and say they are conservative even when they aren't. It's hard to admit that you or people you loved allowed yourselves to be sold a bill of goods. I know how you feel cause for about 7 years I thought GW Bush was a conservative, then I took off my idiot goggles.

[Sudetenland]

Here are the facts--as posted in another thread by Cincinatus' Wife:

"Rick Perry started as a Democrat in West Texas (that was THE only party). He served in the Texas legislature - was known as one of the "pit bulls," conservative members who sat in the lower pit of the House Appropriations Committee and bitterly fought spending increases. Perry changed parties in 1989, joining Phil Gramm and other conservative Texas Democrats, who now had a true ideological party with a burgeoning Texas GOP. When Perry campaigned for Lt. Gov. [1998], he and his campagin staff were in it to win and his hard-nosed style was against the "friendly" advice and request of GWB and Rove to run easy against Sharp, a popular democrat (and Aggie friend of Perry's from their A&M years together). Rove wanted to broaden Bush's base for his upcoming White House run. Perry told them where to stick their advice, because he knew the voters would vote for Bush and then cross back over and vote for Sharp (D) if he just walked through the motions like the Bush-Rove team asked him to do. Perry won the seat for Lt. Gov. -- the first GOP elected to that office since reconstruction. Now 13 years later and into his 3rd term as Texas governor, the GOP holds a super majority. So Perry has earned his conservative spurs -- fighting both parties! [The Bushes and Rove supported Kay Bailey Hutchison's primary challenge against Gov. Perry this last election too] "

Lt. Governors, in Texas, don't get elected on the "coattails" of any one. Again, you speak of what you do not know. If you bother to do any research, you would know that Bob Bullock, a Democrat, was Bush's first Lt. Governor. Lt. Governors are elected on their own merits and not as an adjunct to the Governor.

In 1988, in Texas, a large percentage of Democrat voters and pols were conservative. The transition and ascension of the Republican Party was just getting in the swing of things and a great many Democrats held on to their party memberships in hopes of reversing the leftwards drift of their party. Traditions run deep and it is hard to admit that your party, the party to which your family held allegiance for over a century was no longer your party.

Making claims about things of which you know nothing, "makes you look silly."

Supporting Gore was a mistake that Perry realized and corrected right after the election, by switching parties. It was that campaign that enabled Perry to come to the realization that the Democrat Party was no longer aligned with his beliefs.

No, my family has been Republican for some time. We have been so in spite of the political bent of most Southerners--primarily because of FDR and his programs--but we were an exception in Shreveport. Most of my friends who voted for Nixon when I was in college did so as Democrats and did not change parties when they did so because to do so prevented you from being able to vote in the Democrat Primary, from which most elected state officials came. In the 70's and 80's, if you lived in the South and wanted a voice in who your governor or state reps were, you had to vote in the Democrat primary. Conservatives voted for the conservative Democrat and liberals voted for the liberal Democrat.

As I have stated several times now on several of these threads, Bill Clements was the first Republican Governor of Texas in a century, David Treen was the first Republican Governor in 102 years in Louisiana, and Kirk Fordice in Mississippi was the first in a century.

Liberal or conservative, state elected officials were Democrats. A great many--probably the majority--of Democrat conservatives still voted Democrat because that's what Southerners did. They voted for Kennedy because he was a Democrat, they voted for Johnson because he was a Democrat, and the same goes for many who were still doing so with Carter all the way through Clinton.

The parents of a number of my friends, though super-conservative, still will not vote Republican, because to them it is a betrayal of their heritage. That is from where the term "yellow-dog Democrat" comes--they would vote for a yellow-dog on the Democrat ticket before they would vote Republican.

The Republican South is a phenomenon of the past 3 decades and it has only been over the past 2 that it has become clearly established.

YOu cannot understand Southern Politics until you understand the depth and breadth of the resentment held by many (still held in some cases) of the Reconstruction and the Republican Party's part in it.

The first sign of wisdom is not making judgments until you understand what you are judging. You made the mistake of judging us based upon your own experiences rather than trying to understand the dynamics of Southern politics.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Thanks for using that quote “Sudetenland.”

Yesterday “Bronze Titan” told me [paraphrasing] that since Perry had not fought both parties like Sarah Palin, Perry hadn’t earned his conservative stripes.

Since I know that is not true, I took the opportunity to respond fully.

“BT” has not responded back but my effort will not be wasted.

Thank you. It makes a lot of difference when the facts are learned.

Bump!

[Impy]

You apparently don't know what coattails are. How amusing.

You might recall that Reagan won lots of states in 1980 and pulled a lot of Republican Senators in, on his coattails .

You might recall that Bush won 68% in 1998 at the top of the ticket while Perry (and Rylander-Strayhorn) barley won. They may very well have lost without Bush's landslide at the top of the ticket. Capisce?

Once again I don't know why you arguing this nonsense as this entire thread of conversation stems from me agreeing with you that Perry praising Bush in public doesn't mean that Perry really likes him!

In 1988, in Texas, a large percentage of Democrat voters and pols were conservative.

Voters sure, not as large % of pols as you seem to think. Certainly Al Gore was NOT and Rick knew it (or he was too stupid not to know it, take your pick). If this were 1968 you'd have a better case that being a rat was the "only choice" for Perry but not the 80's sorry. Has he said who he supported in the general elections in 1980/84/88? If it's Carter/Mondale/Dukakis I'd like to hear you defend that.

[Impy]

The parents of a number of my friends, though super-conservative, still will not vote Republican, because to them it is a betrayal of their heritage

Yes the types of idiots who hate the Republicans cause their great-grand pappys fought for the sainted CSA. If you want you can tell them I think they are morons of the highest magnitude (more then welfare bums because they know better) and they can shove their "heritage" where the sun don't shine.

[Sudetenland]

I know exactly what coattails are, which is precisely why I said they didn't affect the election of Rick Perry. Being ignorant as you seem determined to remain, you simply can't understand why the coattail effect doesn't work very well in Texas--but that's okay, I understand as an arrogant Yankee, why you refuse to learn anything about Southern politics.

Willful ignorance is inexcusable, especially when the information has been spoon fed to you, but that is your problem, not mine.

Fact: In 1982 the Texas Congressional delegation was Democrats-22, Republicans-5. In 1983, Phil Gramm resigned his Democrat seat in the House and then won it back as a Republican in the special election that was held (so Phil Gramm actually made the switch in 1983, not '88 as was earlier stated.
With the 1984 landslide Reagan re-election, the delegation shifted to a balance of Democrats-17, Repulicans-10. In 1986, bill Clements won the governorship back and with that, the realignment really began to take off. A majority of old line conservative Democrats switched parties or retired and began to switch parties in earnest. The 100th Congressional delegation from Texas, however remained at Democrats-17, Republicans-10.

The Texas delegation to the 101st Congress in 1989 was Democrats-19, Republicans-8 and the same held for the 102nd Congress.

In 1993, Texas had gained a seat and the delegation was Democrats-21, Republicans-9.

The shift in the Texas Delegation finally began in 1995 when the balance became Democrats-18, Republicans-12 (one Democrat, Greg Laughlin, switched to the Republican Party after the election). In 1997, Republicans gained another seat, to 13. Ditto in 1999, still 17-13 D's to R's. Even after Bush's election in 2000, the balance of Representatives remained at 17-13.

In 2002, Texas gained another 2 seats, and the balance became Democrats-17, Republicans-15 and finally, in 2005 with the re-election of Bush, the balance shifted to Texas being a Republican state Democrats-11, Republicans 21.

So now, stop telling me how much you know about Texas politics and about how Republican the state was when Rick Perry switched parties, because, as I have just shown you, you don't know anything.

Rick Perry was a fairly early party switcher--not one of the earliest--but relatively early.

For a career politician in Texas, the path to power was the Democrat Party for 120 years. It required a fair amount of courage and a dedication to the values Rick Perry and other conservative Texans held to make that switch. It took the electorate another 15 years to follow suit.