I Guess Rick Perry Forgot About Needing [Begging] Sarah Palin to Save His Campaign in 2010

Back in 2010, Governor Rick Perry was in trouble here in Texas. He was running for re-election and faced stiff competition from not only a Tea Party challenger [whose campaign would later implode after she was exposed as a 9/11 truther] but Washington insider Kay Baily Hutchison as well.

Gov. Rick Perry will be joined by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at a rally in support of his re-election campaign on Sunday, Feb. 7 in the Houston area.

“I look forward to standing with Sarah to promote our shared conservative values of limited government, low taxes and individual freedom,” said Gov. Perry. “Gov. Palin is a true conservative leader whose priorities and message resonate with Texans, and I am honored to have her in Texas supporting my campaign.”

Gov. Palin will campaign with Gov. Perry to highlight the positive momentum Texas is experiencing through conservative leadership that has cut taxes, created jobs, strengthened education and secured our border.

Perry was overjoyed! And of course, he won re-election, thanks, in no small part, to Sarah’s endorsement.

Old Slick Rick is singing a different tune today though. According to the Houston Chronicle he’s not happy that “outsiders” are supporting Conservative star Ted Cruz over the Establishment™ candidate David Dewhurst.

It should be noted that Perry’s runnin’ buddy, Dewhurst, has been endorsed by Mike Huckabee, also an “outsider.” Dewhurst has been bragging about the endorsement [No, seriously, he has] and Huckabee has cut TV commercials for him.

Perry: We don’t need outsiders’ views on Senate race (Are you listening, Sarah Palin?)

Gov. Rick Perry is once again slamming “out-of-state interest groups” backing former solicitor general Ted Cruz in his runoff with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst –this time tweaking Sarah Palin, U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and Rick Santorum by suggesting their states could learn a lot from Texas, but Texas doesn’t need their advice on choosing its next U.S. senator.

Perry, standing staunchly behind Dewhurst, brushed off the question about whether his own tea party credibility may be damaged by his opposition to Cruz, who has been endorsed by national conservative and tea party groups and figures (including Palin, DeMint and Santorum) in the runoff for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.

“There’s a whole lot of people who don’t intimately and expertly know how Texas operates that have come in and endorsed in this race, and with all due respect – I respect each one of those individuals, but they don’t know anything about how Texas works,” said Perry after a hurricane preparedness tour at the Austin airport. “And if they did, they would be endorsing David Dewhurst.”

Without naming Palin, DeMint or Santorum, Perry called them to mind by naming their states: “I appreciate everybody paying attention to Texas – as well they should, they could learn some things on how to run South Carolina and Pennsylvania and Alaska.

“Come to Texas and learn how to do it right, but don’t come down here and tell us who needs to be our next United States senator, thank you very much. We’ll decide that without your outside, Washington, D.C.-oriented help,” Perry said.

Cruz spokesman James Bernsen said his candidate has overwhelming support among Texas grassroots conservatives, “most of whom Dewhurst has not even bothered to meet with.” And, he said, Cruz has “exponentially more Texas donors than David Dewhurst, including more donors from the Houston area than Dewhurst has in the entire state of Texas.”

UPDATE: Some people have written to note that Dewhurst is trumpeting his own out-of-state endorsement from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, so Perry’s outrage may be a bit selective.

Perry’s comments came the day after former ESPN football analyst Craig James (who came in a distant fourth in the U.S. Senate GOP primary) endorsed Dewhurst, earning a “Congratulations to Lt. Gov. Dewhurst” from Bernsen.

His comments also came as Cruz pressed Dewhurst to debate, saying he’s accepted a proposal for a series of five debates to be hosted by the Grassroots Texans Network.

Dewhurst has repeatedly indicated his willingness to take Cruz up on a challenge for multiple debates before the July 31 runoff. His campaign said it’s looking at this invitation, which was signed by Ken Emanuelson.

Emanuelson, as highlighted on the anti-Dewhurst “Dewbious” site, was quoted in January as saying, “David Dewhurst may be Texas grassroots enemy No. 1 right now.”

Look, there’s no question that Rick Perry hasn’t screwed Texas up too bad. Texas is a great state and we have policies in place that make the state business friendly. Perry has taken advantage of this, and has gone to liberal states like California and poached businesses in a big way. All of those newly minted Texans are keeping our state rolling, but it’s laughable that he thinks he could teach Sarah Palin anything about running a state!

For those who don’t know the difference, Texas, like many southern states, has a relatively weak Governor. The Lt Governor has as much if not more actual power. On the other hand, when Alaskans wrote their state’s constitution, they wanted a strong executive. Someone they could look at and know “the buck stops here.” So, Alaska’s Governor is a true CEO, one of the two most powerful state executives in the country. Sarah used her position to bring about sweeping ethics reforms well as massive fiscal reform.

When it looked like Sarah was going to run for president, our Whitney Pitcher compared the fiscal records of all of the Governors who were running. While Sarah’s record was the best, Rick Perry’s record on fiscal matters was downright horrific in comparison.

Sarah took office as Governor at the end of 2006. Her first budget was fiscal year 2008, written in 2007:

During the fiscal years for which Sarah Palin exercised budgetary authority as Governor of Alaska (FY08 through FY10)

• Debt outstanding increased 12.7%, or 4.2% per year • Per capita debt outstanding increased 7.4%, or 2.5% per year • Total liabilities decreased 34.6%, or 11.5% per year • Total liabilities per capita decreased 37.7%, or 12.6% per year

During the fiscal years for which Rick Perry exercised budgetary authority as Governor of Texas (FY02 through FY10)

• Debt outstanding increased 184.2%, or 20.5% per year • Per capita debt outstanding increased 140.4%, or 15.6% per year • Total liabilities increased 60.6%, or 6.7% per year • Total liabilities per capita increased 35.8%, or 4.0% per year

Outstanding debt grew a whopping 184.2% or 20.5% PER YEAR on Perry’s watch! [as of FY2010]

Look, I know it’s all just politics, but you’d think Perry would remember who helped him stay in office, and have a tad more respect. People across the nation are backing Ted Cruz because they want a real Reagan Conservative in Washington, not another Establishment™ hack.

Texans know David Dewhurst’s record, and understand the mediocrity he brought to Austin has no business in D.C. We need someone who will fight for Texas and fight for America. Someone who will defend Liberty and Freedom with his last breath. We need Ted Cruz.

This Texan is glad Conservatives across the nation are supporting Ted Cruz against the Republican Establishment’s machine!

Okay. Since you asked.

Please try to be open-minded and consider the following. For two years the myth that David Dewhurst is not a conservative has been charged by these folks who have been trying to include a tea-party slate of lawyers, oops, I mean candidates, aiming to get the open Texas Senate seat, and it has gone on so long that some tea-partiers have bought into the myth.

Their problem is that David Dewhurst has always been a great conservative. So, his political rivals make the false charges that Dewhurst is not a conservative and thus put Dewhurst always on the defensive by making Dewhurst have to counter the false charges. This strategy is even more likely to be effective for Cruz, because Cruz has no legislative experience, no leadership experience, and no private sector experience that he can speak of, so his strategy MUST be to tear down the candidate that does, and base his whole campaign on promises.

But the facts do get in the way and here they are:

“The Conservative Case For Electing
Dewhurst To The U.S. Senate

There’s a major reason why TEXAS conservatives are coalescing behind Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the open U.S. Senate race. While virtually all candidates in the extended field agree we need a dramatic housecleaning in Washington, Dewhurst is the sole contender who has proven he can deliver on what he promises.

Dewhurst has compiled an impressive record of budget-cutting and trimming government, starting in his first political office with a major reduction in force at the General Land Office. He continued to hold the line during his five legislative sessions as Lieutenant Governor. Even during periodic rough economic times, the Texas Legislature has eliminated expected shortfalls and balanced the state budget entirely by cutting spending, never once resorting to a general tax increase. That’s a record unmatched anywhere in the country.

Working with Gov. Perry and the Republican majority, Dewhurst has also pushed through legislation protecting vulnerable human life, trimming excesses of personal injury trial lawyers, maintaining a job-friendly regulatory and tax climate, safeguarding the integrity of elections and reducing taxes when possible - all while strengthening our border security. He has helped create a favorable business climate that has attracted businesses and created jobs, and made Texas the envy of other states. When Dewhurst vows to take this Texas model to Washington, he does so with credibility and personal experience.

Dewhurst has managed to accomplish all this in the Texas Senate, where the minority party still has the numbers to stop any legislation dead in its tracks. But Dewhurst has a businessman’s ability to work to a successful deal without sacrificing his principles. As Ronald Reagan advocated, he takes 90 percent and tries to get the remaining 10 percent next time. He’s been equally effective in enacting conservative social policy as well. As one prominent pro-life leader has said: “Until Lt. Gov. Dewhurst was elected, the state senate was where our legislation came to die. He has been a game-changer for the pro-family movement.”

Even as Lt. Governor, Dewhurst has never been part of the inside Austin establishment. He was strongly opposed by the lobby when he first ran for Lt. Governor. Since his election, he’s been a quiet and persistent advocate for transparency and reform, and an enemy of business as usual. He’s developed a well-deserved reputation for intelligence, integrity and independence. He doesn’t read a teleprompter well, but he’s serious about public policy. Dewhurst is never afraid to dive into issues and come up with solutions that embrace free market principles, as he’s done with state health care and other issues. And he’s as persistent as he is serious. He will make a principled and determined U.S. Senator.

Several Senate candidates have unusual personal histories, but Dewhurst’s life story is particularly compelling. His father, a WWII hero, was killed in an auto accident when David was only three. He worked his way through school, overcame a stuttering problem, became a U.S. Air Force officer, and later served abroad in the CIA. When he came back to Houston, Dewhurst started a business, suffered some reversals, dusted himself off and started anew.

Dewhurst was ultimately successful in the energy co-generation industry. He has since given back to our communities in a major way. His contributions over the years to conservative causes, and to those in need, have been made quietly, and they’re inspiring. He is a man of compassion and generosity... and steely resolve.

Starting relatively late in life, Dewhurst became active in political life - even while continuing to run his investment firm. He knows from personal experience that our national wealth expands, and our people become prosperous, only when the private sector takes risks and creates jobs. More importantly, he knows how the heavy hand of government can undermine the hopes and dreams of entrepreneurs and small businessmen. Congress needs more businessmen, more men and women who have created jobs and who can address our troubled economy with personal experience and conviction.

The U.S. Senate race has produced a number of solid candidates and future political talent. Virtually all of them talk the talk about cleaning up the mess in Washington - repealing Obamacare, reducing spending, creating a good business environment. But only one has truly walked the walk, and proven that he can deliver. Dewhurst has a solid track record of accomplishment reining in government on the state level, balancing budgets, protecting the core American family, defending our sovereignty, and safeguarding the American dream for future generations.”

Texas Conservative Review believes David Dewhurst will represent Texas with distinction in the U.S. Senate.

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