FIRST-PERSON: Rick Perry is no George W. Bush

Baptist Press ^ | 9-14-2011 | Richard Land

[smoothsailing]

FIRST-PERSON: Rick Perry is no George W. Bush
By Richard Land
Sep 14, 2011

Richard Land

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Many people assume Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a carbon copy of George W. Bush. Well, he isn't. Those who either love or despise former President Bush need to understand that Perry should be neither accepted nor rejected based on their opinion of Bush. Indeed, as the nation heads with full force into the 2012 election cycle, many of Perry's opponents in and out of the news media will try to tear down the Texas governor as "Bush, continued." To do so would be neither honest nor fair to either man.

As a sixth-generation Texan of similar age and life experiences, perhaps I can explain some differences between the two. Of course, it will be up to voters to decide whether these differences make a difference.

THE SAME, ONLY DIFFERENT

Bush moved to Texas as a toddler and eagerly embraced the Texas ethos. Texans love people who move to the state and embrace its "Don't Mess With Texas" creed. They smile when they see bumper stickers proclaiming, "I wasn't born here, but I got here as fast as I could."

Perry, however, is the son of tenant farmers from the West Texas hamlet of Paint Creek, outside Abilene. Texas is his DNA. Perry has often said that while they did not have much financially, his family was rich in the things that mattered. He attended Texas A&M when it was permeated by an all-male, all-military culture, which Perry embraced, becoming a "yell leader" (A&M's version of a cheerleader on steroids).

Bush, by contrast, was raised by wealthy New Englanders, summered in Maine and attended Yale and Harvard. In this case, parentage made more than just a stark economic difference.

In many ways, I have lived between George W.'s and Rick Perry's worlds. Like Perry, I was raised in modest circumstances. Like Bush, I went to an Ivy League school (Princeton). Like Perry, I had a Texan father, and like Bush, a New England mother. My father imparted to me the sheer sense of "anything is possible" that is the Texas heritage, but my Bostonian mother reminded me that biggest is not always best and loudest is not always wisest -- Texas with perspective, a rare gift. All three of us had fathers who were World War II combat veterans. Their dads were pilots, my dad a Navy chief. We are all proud of our fathers' patriotic service.

In 2010, Newsweek featured Perry with a revelatory cover photo. Perry's boots were adorned with what Texans call "the first Texas flag." What that flag says about Texans of the Bush-Perry era is instructive. In 1835, Mexico demanded that rebellious Texas settlers return a cannon it had lent them to ward off hostile Indians. The Texans responded by drawing a replica of the cannon on a bed sheet and writing under it, "COME AND TAKE IT." Mexico did not get the cannon back. That Texas folklore was a significant part of every young Texan's upbringing. That Perry would put that flag on his boots tells us more about him than anything in Newsweek. This "Don't Mess with Texas" mindset is embraced by both men, but Perry, the Aggie, had neither Bush's parents nor Yale or Harvard to tone it down.

It is clear to those who know former President George W. Bush that he has great respect and affection for the average man and tremendous appreciation for those who have risen through the meritocracy from humble beginnings. However, as one of those "up from the ranks" individuals, I don't believe George W. Bush or any such son of privilege can as fully identify with the average family that lives from paycheck to paycheck as Perry can. Bush loves and appreciates them, Perry is them.

Their different backgrounds make them different men. Perry is less subtle. While both are men of genuine faith, Perry (life-long evangelical) is going to be more overtly Christian in his faith statements than the former president, who became a Methodist but was raised by New England Episcopalians. Perry is more conservative than Bush. He would be the most conservative president since Calvin Coolidge both fiscally and in foreign policy. He would be less interventionist in the latter and far more frugal than "compassionate" in the former. Perry also has a well-deserved reputation in Texas as being a less-forgiving political opponent than Bush. If you cross Perry, he will get even.

NATIONAL APPEAL?

It would be a mistake to underestimate the appeal of this candidate's conservative populism. Perry has never lost an election and while he would be offended if you called him an intellectual, Perry is far more shrewd than people assume. His brain trust in his past election, where he defeated the George H.W. Bush-backed establishment candidate, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, included a group of Ivy League brainiacs on the cutting edge of campaign and election research.

The USA is not Texas, but large chunks are similar. Perry's appeal increases the farther you go from either the east or left coast. Large numbers of Americans are moving to Texas. Enough people moved in the past decade to give the state four new congressional seats. The question for Rick Perry and GOP primary voters: Does America want to be more like his pro-business, pro-growth Texas? If the answer is "yes," Perry is the "down to his bone marrow" Texan who is eager to lead them in that direction. However, George W. Bush he isn't.

If Perry is the Republican nominee, what presidential debates those will be. The contrast could not be more stark. In one corner the whippet-thin, fastidious, ultra-urbane, somehow detached Siamese cat that is President Obama. Across from him the muscular, Marlboro man, Rottweiler that is Gov. Perry. Wow! The debate moderators will need striped shirts, whistles and yellow flags to throw during those debates.
--30--
Richard Land is president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Commission. A version of this column first appeared in USA Today.

© Copyright 2011 Baptist Press

Original copy of this story can be found at http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=36117

[CA Conservative]

My only problem with Perry is, he is Mr. Dream Act.

Educate yourself. The Texas Dream Act was passed in Perry's first year as governor. It was not legislation that he introduced, and it passed by overwhelming majorities the the Texas Legislature TWICE. Now, Perry agrees with the Texas Dream Act, but he was not the author of it. You seem to be trying to imply that Perry supports the Dream Act in Congress, which is very different from the Texas Dream Act. He doesn't - he has voiced his opposition to amnesty and to the national Dream Act that has been proposed. So calling him "Mr. Dream Act" in that context is misleading at best, dishonest at worst.

[savagesusie]

Oh yes.....that script has been written for over a hundred years. The agenda since the French Revolution (reading Leftism: from de Sade and Marx, to Hitler to Pol Pot.)

There has always been an agenda with this perverted, powerful leftist movement with various names but same agenda.

Can I “hope” for someone like a Bonhoeffer to lead and to take a 180 turn before we hit rock bottom and lose all our freedom????

...or will they just end up dead, too?

Being a Christian...I do not put my hope in man completely, but every hundred years or so some brilliant mind/saint appears. I don’t suppose Perry is that guy though.

[cuban leaf]

—whippet-thin, fastidious, ultra-urbane, somehow detached Siamese cat that is President Obama. —

OK, THAT was fun to read. 8-D

[Paperdoll]

Read “Family of Secrets, by Russ Baker” regarding the Bush family Dynasty. Very interesting! The only reason I voted for Bush was because of the alternatives, not because I liked him. He wore his religion on his sleeve, but did not honor his oath of office to protect America from enemies both foreign and domestic by ignoring the illegals rushing over our borders! This has been very damaging, and in part is responsible for where we find ourselves today. I doubt whether Perry would honor his oath of office either.

[RichInOC]

The problem is that for a large part of the Freepers, that title is the political equivalent of saying “Perry 2012: He Doesn’t Sweat Much For A Fat Girl. And He’s Got A Great Personality!”

[CA Conservative]

Another character trait: if he’s wrong (and he often is), he will not back down.

Sorry, that statement has already been disproven.

[cuban leaf]

—This is all fine and good about the personal life and personal characteristics of Mr. Perry.—

Is that not the topic of the article?

—It provides no informed view of Perry’s own operating principles of government, —

That is the subject for another article.

[smoothsailing]

IF Palin gets in the race, will she split the conservatives and give the nomination to Romney? (I think so.)

I don't think she'd be much of a factor since her negatives are so high, but I could be wrong. At best she'd be another Bachmann, a shooting star. Perry is our best bet.

[smoothsailing]

Class warfare? Hardly.

[Paperdoll]

The problem is that it is far too early to be sold on any one candidate, though I have been leaning toward Bachmann, Santorum and Cain. I need to know much the bad part as well as the good part of any candidate before I make a decision. So Perry has star quality. I am not looking for star quality in a president. I am looking for who truly loves America, cherishes it’s sovereignty, and will do everything possible to turn this ship of state back into safe waters again.

[USS Alaska]

Hey LUZU, what's a

Is he far ahead of the other cosnervatives like Bachmann and Cain? I think so. So what’s the problem??

cosnervative?

[smoothsailing]

LOL! I don’t know about a large part of the Freepers, but that is certainly true of certain segment. :)

[SaxxonWoods]

Interesting. It sounds like you don’t think she’s strong enough to hurt Perry against Romney. If you are right, she is irrelevant and the choice is Perry or Romney.

Easy pick there.

[ZULU]

I like Sarah Palin too, but so far she isn’t running so we don’t know where she would shake out as a “cosnervative” candidate.

Please pardon my typographic error as you are obviously a perfect typist and far above me in the computer typing world.

How that for a new tagline?

[Irenic]

The contrast could not be more stark. In one corner the whippet-thin, fastidious, ultra-urbane, somehow detached Siamese cat that is President Obama. Across from him the muscular, Marlboro man, Rottweiler that is Gov. Perry.
********************************
LOVE that description!

[SaxxonWoods]

You certainly don’t have to be “sold” yet, it’s not voting time. None of the candidates you mention will be available when primary voting time comes, so you may want to start moving on soon.

[smoothsailing]

I like Palin alot, but she has been very disappointing IMO. I think she has toyed with people too much, and I think she would experience early primary defeats.

I can’t see her getting organized in time for the Iowa caucus, or the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. If she can’t score an early victory in one of those, she’s done. That’s why I don’t see her being much of a factor.

Again though, I could be wrong, she marches to her own drummer and may have some unknown plan that will surprise us all.

[Paperdoll]

You are very sweet, but I rally don’t need your advice.

[Reagan Man]

>>>>>So Perry has star quality. I am not looking for star quality in a president.

Yeah, right! GHWB didn't have star quality. Neither did Bob Dole, Dubya or McCain and neither does the establishment choice in 2012, Myth Romney.

The fact that Perry has some star power to go along with a good conservative executive governing record, will help him secure votes. And I'd say Perry loves Texas and America too.

[Paperdoll]

I agree with you, though I really like Palin. The fact that she left office in midstream, I think, would weigh heavily against her.