Posted on 09/06/2011 2:13:54 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
A thousand homes and 100,000 acres have burned in just a week. A friend of mine who lives just outside Austin was forced to flee with her family last night as the flames encroached, and not until this afternoon did she learn whether her home had survived. (It had.) Go figure that this guy thinks he should do his job rather than gladhand people on the trail for a few days.
Presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he does not yet know whether he will attend Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate…
“I don’t know. That’s a fluid situation at the moment. Again I go back to we’re going to be taking care of the folks here … We’re really focused on the events at hand and the other side of that is we’re pretty good at multitasking,” said Perry on CBS’s “The Early Show” Tuesday…
“This is not the time to be talking about politics. There’s another 14 months ahead to talk politics. Right now I’m substantially more focused on making sure that these people … folks all across this state are being taken care of. Getting out of harms way, saving lives is the big issue for me right now,” Perry told CBS.
Serious question: Is there a single person whining at him for missing DeMint’s forum who wouldn’t also be whining if he had attended the forum that he had shirked his duties as governor?
“It’s obvious that Rick Perry is skipping the DeMint forum because he knew he was going to be asked tough questions about his previous support for gay marriage in New York, as well as his policies in Texas in favor of illegal immigration,” says one representative of a rival camp. “He’s looking for a reason to not actually be compared to the other candidates,” says an official in another camp. “He was grasping for a reason not to show.”
There are eight more debates scheduled before the Iowa caucuses, three of which will be held within the next 15 days. Plenty of opportunities left to quiz him about immigration, an issue on which he is in fact very vulnerable, and on gay marriage and the Tenth Amendment, which won’t hurt him at all given his appeal to evangelical leaders. Ultimately he’s the only one who suffers from having to miss these things since every absence gives Romney and Bachmann a chance to shine unhindered and to attack him without fear of retort. They may have no choice tomorrow night: According to NBC’s new poll, Perry leads Romney by fully 15 points, 38/23, with Bachmann a distant fourth (behind Ron Paul) at eight percent.
Oh, McCain...
I’m not a Perry backer, but I am a Texas resident. I can respect his decision to pass on the debate.
Texas has no Lt Gov?
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
No win outcome in this situation.
I doubt very much he is thinking of skipping the debate because of tough questions. He’s had them before and he’ll have them again. I’d rather see him take care of his people, unlike some leaders that go on vacation every time something bad happens to our country.
In the meantime, Palin thinks she's on some kind of cruise...no commitments, no clues, no regard...sorry..she belongs in or out at this point.
COMMIT OR QUIT and help the party!! More like using people at this point.
Update: Perry plans to attend!
Perry sounds like a typical establishment politician to me.
Has an excuse to get out of the debate, so he probably will. But, it’s “fluid” enough to change his mind.
HE ‘s attending.
Latest Information :
Spokesman: Perry plans to attend GOP debate
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE DETAILS
Exactly my sentiments. I understand his decision.
Perry, you aren’t that important. Or maybe you just never learned to delegate. And just what does he think he can or would do personally in the span of a few hours that would make any difference? And I assume they make use of modern communications in the Texas governor’s organization.
People can spin all they want, but there was no legitimate reason for Perry to miss DeMint’s event, or tomorrow’s debate. Those fires have been burning for weeks and absences of a half day amount to nothing.
Texas has no Lt Gov?
Exactly. I think he should delegate and put others in charge for one night. Be a mistake in my opinion if he doesn’t go to the debate.
Rick Perry: Because of the Texas fires, I’m not sure I’ll make the debate tomorrow night
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Smart move. He would do himself harm if he did make the debates. These fires are intense.
She's in.
She just wants to make sure the RINO cowboy gets vetted properly.
Or would you prefer that Palin run interference for him?
Prayers up for the fine people of Texas. May the Lord protect Texans and strengthen them as they fight the fires.
Texas has no Lt Gov?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You want Rick Perry to send our Lt. Gov to the debates in his place? Huh?
OK, I know what you mean, but as a Texan who was evacuated from the Bastrop fires, I can asure you that all of Texas knows there is NOWHERE Perry needs to be at this time except in Texas.
As a resident of Texas, in the area where there are multiple fires, I am glad he is taking his job seriously. I don’t want him galavanting off on the campaign trail when there is so much devastation in our state. The whole state is in a severe drought mode. Here in East Texas, we have had 2 1/2 months of 100 degree+ days - some as high as 110. No rain to speak of in that time period, either. Our state is a tenderbox.
For a map of the fires, go here:
http://ticc.tamu.edu/Response/FireActivity/default.aspx
Have Perry participate in the debate from remote onsite in Tx if the debate rules allow for it.
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.