Rick Perry backed an already-climate-crusading Al Gore in '88

Politico ^ | 8/15/11 6:32 PM EDT | Bob King

[SoConPubbie]

Texas Gov. Rick Perry may have forgotten a thing or two about the Al Gore presidential campaign he helped lead in 1988.

In an interview with an Iowa radio station on Monday, the Republican presidential contender explained his role as the Gore campaign’s Texas chairman by saying that “this was Al Gore before he invented the Internet and got to be Mr. Global Warming.”

[boomop1]

LOL 1988, now the media will say global warming is a hoax, you bet.

[TADSLOS]

One has to peel back the very recent layers of Perry’s self promoting conservatism in order to get to the core rot of his political career.

[toddausauras]

I find it amazing conservatives on FR are now going to the Nation and Politico for hit pieces on Perry.
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As do I. Here we have a guy calling the admin treasonous and that’s not to be cheered? How about credit where credit is due. Bachmann, Palin and Perry are all A-OK with me.

[toddausauras]

I find it amazing conservatives on FR are now going to the Nation and Politico for hit pieces on Perry.
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As do I. Here we have a guy calling the admin treasonous and that’s not to be cheered? How about credit where credit is due. Bachmann, Palin and Perry are all A-OK with me.

[arrogantsob]

Actually in the 1980s Gore wore the mask of a conservative Democrat or at worst a moderate Democrat.

[alstewartfan]

If any of the criticisms of Perry are untrue, please set the record straight. I KNOW that he tried to require Gadasil. I KNOW that he pushed the super highway for a LONG time, over folks’ reasoned objections. I KNOW that he rejected Az’s weak anti-illegal immigration law that people overwhelmingly support. I KNOW taht he didn’t switch to the GOP until long after it was clear that the Democrat party was dead in Texas. We don’t need the left to fuel our doubts about Perry. Bob

[CodeToad]

So, for you the purpose of government is jobs creation. Got it. They can violate you in all kinds of other ways, just get those jobs going. Hint: It isn’t the purpose of government to create jobs. Government doesn’t create jobs. Sure you’re not a Democrat Union member?

[wolfcreek]

If you keep listening to these liberal talking point, rumors and innuendoes spread by folks who want a candidate that’s probably not going run, you might get deceived.

Gov. Perry is likely the most conservative candidate in the field.

[x]

I have to give Perry this one.

You may have had a few enviro-freaks who paid attention to this in 1988.

But for most voters it was off the radar screen.

It wasn't something Gore's campaign stressed.

He really wasn't Mr. Global Warming or Mr. Climate Change quite yet.

[Zhang Fei]

Nonsense. Republican John Tower was elected Senator from Texas in 1961, when Perry was 11 years old. Republican Bill Clements was elected Gov of Texas in 1979, 10 years before Perry changed parties.

Republicans did get elected at the statewide level, but the Democrats held majorities in both houses until the late 90's. When Perry backed Gore in 88, the Texas Senate was 25 Dem and 6 GOP, whereas the Texas House was 90 Dem and 60 GOP. It was only in 2003 that the GOP held both chambers of the Texas statehouse, decisively ending over 100 years of Democratic post-Reconstruction dominance.

[Zhang Fei]

In fact, one of Bush’s talking points in the 2000 election was the fact that he was curbed by Democratic majorities in the Texas statehouse, but knew how to reach across the aisle in order to make deals.

[tobyhill]

There were many Conservative Democrats turned Conservative Republican even as late as the 90s.

[CharlesWayneCT]

He did it again? He just did it last night, you were on that thread, and now King has written ANOTHER article saying exactly the same thing with exactly the same link. Wow. Good of you to dig this up, because it’s been at least 4 hours since we discussed this in the last identical thread.

[CharlesWayneCT]

It’s Ben at Politico, so no, they didn’t talk about anything good about conservatives.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I’m just amazed that, having beaten this exact article to death just last night, a participant in that discussion re-posted the same article. Maybe they didn’t like the outcome of the argument before, and hope to have a more favorable result this time.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Well, Perry did just blow a hole in Romney’s front-runner status. Although it seems odd that people here would be upset about that, some are working very hard to tear Perry down, which will have the impact of putting Romney back in first place.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Perry was a real good democrat until the state started going red and Rove told him switch or die.

I haven't seen any documentation of Rove telling Perry to switch. Where is it?

[SoConPubbie]

He did it again? He just did it last night, you were on that thread, and now King has written ANOTHER article saying exactly the same thing with exactly the same link. Wow. Good of you to dig this up, because it’s been at least 4 hours since we discussed this in the last identical thread.

So Charles, is it a different Article? Does it have different content?

[CharlesWayneCT]

I don't know if she will endorse anybody in this race. I'm still trying to figure out how they explain what Sarah Palin endorsed Perry, and spoke glowingly of his record in Texas.

Remember, it was that very public record which people are trashing here and claiming it proves he is a lying scum RINO.

So why did Sarah Palin praise him so much? Do we forget so quickly, things like this: "The much awaited Perry-Palin rally (with extra special guest Ted Nugent) visited the Rick Berry Center in Cypress on Sunday afternoon, but made sure to wrap things up before the Big Game."

Here is the quote from Sarah Palin, reviewing Rick Perry's record as Governor:

That's why I am supporting Governor Rick Perry for re-election. He does what is right regardless of whether it is popular. He walks the walk of a true conservative. And he sticks to his guns – and you know how I feel about guns!

With our current economic crisis, and working families worried about their pensions, jobs, credit card debt and rising home foreclosures, we need strong conservative leadership in trend-setting states like Texas.

Rick Perry is a leader. While the nation lost half a million jobs in the last year, Texas gained 250,000 net new jobs. He improved the job climate in Texas by refusing to raise taxes in the face of the largest budget deficit in Texas history. He had the foresight to join legislators in saving for a rainy day. And he has consistently asked agency heads to cut their budgets even when surpluses were rolling in. My fellow Republicans, that’s consistent leadership. That's Rick Perry.

Contrast Palin's quote: "He walks the walk of a true conservative", with the typical Perry attack here that he's faking it.

I choose to believe Sarah Palin. She's a smart person, looked at the record of Perry, and endorsed him as a "true conservative".

[kickonly88]

My gut feeling is that doesn’t say much for the field.