Posted on 08/15/2011 6:07:40 AM PDT by tellw
Gov. Rick Perry talks like George W. Bush but might win like Ronald Reagan.
Last weekend’s Ames straw poll made for great political theater, but the important action was taking place in South Carolina and New Hampshire, where Texas Gov. Rick Perry kicked off his presidential campaign.
Perry, the straight-talking three-term governor, is bringing to the race a message and biography that couldn’t contrast any more starkly with President Obama’s.
He grew up in rural Paint Creek, Texas, farming cotton in his early years, and attending the state’s land-grant university, Texas A&M. Obama went to Harvard Law School, earned his political chops in Chicago, spending much of his early career in academia. Perry has governed a low-tax, low-regulation state at a time when the president has sought to expand government’s role in the economy. The Texas governor's blunt advocacy of conservatism and faith-tinged rhetoric couldn’t be any different from Obama’s nuanced rhetoric and cautious governing style.
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Let’s not underestimate 0bama. He’ll have a Billion (with a B) dollars to spend, still will have the national media on his side, and there are still plenty of sheeple out there drinking the Kool-Aid.
It’s going to be about voter turn out, as always. The GOP candidate, whoever it is, will have to bring the fight, will have to not chicken out for PC reasons but call a spade a spade! Explain in simple terms that 0bama has put America on a path to ruin and must be stopped.
Many stayed home in 2008 because you couldn’t hold your noses and vote for Juan McCain. Suppose Mitt Romney is the candidate, are you going to sit on your hands again next year and guarantee a 2nd 0bama term, so he can complete the job of destroying the country?
Additionally, clearly we do not have enough of the right people in congress. We need less compromisers and more Tea Partiers, willing to stand up for what’s right, regardless the consequences to their own political careers. We need to take the Senate and increase majority in the House with principled conservatives. That way, if a Romeney is elected and strays too far to the left, congress can reign him back in.
But again, do not underestimate 0bama and his ability to lie, steal, and buy his way into a 2nd term.
I would argue with your second point vehemently. The Republicans have a long history of taking the previous VP candidate or runner up from the last open primary to be their candidate. McCain lost to Bush. Bush 41 lost to Reagan. In between, Dole lost as a VP candidate. It goes further back. In most cases, the most recent losing candidate becomes the choice to be the next nominee. The difference here is that Palin, who lost as VP, was ignored in favor of Romney, who lost to McCain in the primary. In most cycles, Palin would have been groomed to take the spot, but the party poo-bahs don’t like Palin nor her independent views and joined in her trashing.
You all must be referring to Sarah Palin, the only presidential contender feared by the Marxists and the Ruling Class.
They fear Palin because her record shows she will keep her promises, and she will not tolerate corruption.
Just slightly better. I'm at the point where I would vote for the East end of a North bound mule to get this president out of office. I believe whoever bumps him out of office is going to have a monumental task ahead of him/her. It's mind boggling.
Well, one "illusion" Gov. Perry (unlike another) isn't performing is campaigning (as in Obama's non existent "leading") "from behind."
Great piece. Thanks for posting.
I like Palin very much. But, since she's not a candidate, life must go on and I have to choose a candidate to support. Perry, despite illegal immigration, looks promising. That was a real stem-winder of a speech in Charleston.
I especially liked when he said (and I paraphrase), "America is a can-do nation, Americans roll up their sleeves, Americans fix things."
That's talk I haven't heard in years. It will sell well in the campaign. All that said, I liked Cain and Bachmann at the beginning, but have dropped them. Could be the same with Perry.
And if enough people operate with that thinking, we'll probably end up with Obama and Nancy Pelosi again. Fight in the primaries for your chosen candidates, but show up in November to pick the best choice. Someone will be sitting in the White House and in your congress person's office in late January 2013, and damn straight, it is better to be a Republican in both cases.
My North Texas ears just hear West Texas in both. Paint Creek is just a couple hundred miles from Midland, which is a stone’s throw here.
Now East Texas is another matter entirely, more like the deep South. Completely different vowels.
Despite all the words and rancor, it will be Perry. The writing's on the wall.
And it's certainly not a place for governors judging by Carter, Clinton and Bush. When will we realize that our past has shown us the way that did not work, and look for new ideas that do.
Palin has two strikes against her that she cannot overcome: 1) She quit her job as governor. It is not good to swear an oath to your state and not fulfill it. Nobody likes a quitter. 2) She was on the losing ticket last time and, like it or not, in presidential politics you get only one bite at the apple. Nixon is the exception.
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Re 1) I reluctantly agree. While her base fully understands and even supports her decision, it is too easy a soundbite to say she is a “quitter”.
Re 2) I disagree there. She was #2 on the ticket, and clearly set apart from McLame ideologically. McLame was doomed from the get-go, by design of the globalists.
Palin is perfect right where she is - above the fray as kingmaker, campaign supporter and commentator extraordinaire, undefeatable. We would hate to lose that.
That is true and he is no front runner, either. They were just counting his hand full of write ins.
GOP isn’t especially kind to the losing VP from a previous election. Kemp and Quayle didn’t even register low double digits in 2000. Dole went nowhere in 1980 after losing on the 1976 ticket. And anyone remember what happened to the GOP losing VP candidates in 1960 and 1964? Barely heard from again. Henry Cabot Lodge went back to South Vietnam ambassador. William Miller did some American Express card commercials.
Reagan announced his candidacy in November.
So why do all candidates, according to nobody in particular, have to announce by August?
How does Rick Perry “talk like George Bush”? Is he simply saying they both have a Texas accent? That’s pretty silly. Substantively, Perry talks nothing like George Bush. He talks about cutting spending and making Washington inconsequential, not “when someone hurts, government has to move.”
If Rick Perry talked like George Bush in substance, he’d go nowhere fast. Hopefully we’ve all learned our lesson that a big spending Republican is poison for the party and the nation.
>> I have come to the conclusion that if Ronald Reagan were currently vying for the nomination, many on this forum would call him a rino <<
No doubt about it. Among other things:
1. While POTUS, he approved EIGHTEEN increases in the federal debt ceiling.
2. He had been president of a trade union.
3. He once supported abortion rights.
4. He picked the “preppy” George H. W. Bush as his VP running mate.
5. He was a big-time supporter of free trade.
6. He used to be a Democrat (just like Rick Perry, by the way).
So yep, there’s no way a record like that could pass muster with certain FReepers today.
Would you do me a favor and hold up Perry’s record on debt and jobs to what Palin did as Governor?
People are voting with their money: http://www.intrade.com/?request_operation=main&request_type=action&checkHomePage=true
Comming in 6th when one is not even running ain’t bad. He could be better on some issues but I’ll take him over the Mitster and Obummer any day. No republican is going to get close to amnesty if they know whats good for them.
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