Posted on 09/01/2011 6:46:10 AM PDT by Hawk720
As he has risen to the top of national Republican presidential polls over the last few weeks, Rick Perry has been forced to confront his past — including the years he spent as a Democrat.
In particular, Perry has been fielding uncomfortable questions about his support for Al Gore in the 1988 presidential race. Perry, who did not switch to the Republican Party until 1989, served as a high-profile Texas supporter of Gore’s presidential bid.
More than two-decades later, as the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, Perry frequently cites Gore’s support of the Strategic Defense Initiative, a Ronald Reagan-era anti-ballistic missile proposal that later came to be known as Star Wars.
“I was a Democrat in my days in the Legislature in the 80′s and I was under the false idea that somehow or another that conservative Democrats could save the Democrat Party. They couldn’t,” Perry said in an interview with conservative talk show host Sean Hannity on Tuesday. “Al Gore appeared to be the most conservative — a strong Strategic Defense Initiative guy — and frankly we thought that he would be the most conservative Democrat. You, know, we were wrong.”
Last weekend, at a campaign appearance in Ottumwa, Iowa, Perry called Gore a “strong Strategic Defense Initiative proponent.”
But Gore’s support for the Strategic Defense Initiative while he was running for president in the late 1980′s was not nearly as enthusiastic as Perry implies.
In fact, just weeks before Gore launched his presidential bid in the summer of 1987, he dismissed the defense proposal as “an electronic Astrodome over the United States” in an interview with the Associated Press.
In a January 1988 interview with Florida’s St. Petersburg Times, Gore was asked whether he would support increasing research funds for the initiative. His response: no way.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I expect that Perry's actions back then were in good part due to political expediency...if you fault him for it..I can't argue with your convictions...
I cut my teeth in politics as a 16 y.o. , in NYC..handing out GOLDWATER literature at a Bronx subway station for two weeks...you have NO IDEA what that was like
I agree that Al Gore ran as a conservative. How do I know? Because I was living in Tennessee during the latter part of his senatorship. I know how he came across.
He and Tipper (who might have been sincere) were huge on the labeling of records, cds, movies, etc. They even received positive remarks from Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum and, I believe, Dobson’s Focus on the Family.
Al passed himself off as anti-abortion by the way he opposed federal funding of abortion. He passed himself off as pro-defense by the way he supported the Strategic Defense Initiative. He passed himself off as pro-family by the above mentioned CD labeling campaign. He passed himself off as pro-gun by his opposition to controlling firearms, and on and on.
He HAD to pass himself off as a conservative. He was running in TENNESSEE. When Tennessee discovered who he really was, his own state didn’t even support him for the presidency. That’s really unheard of.
I think the month of recounting after the 2000 election fried his brains.
One does have to wonder what happened to that popular Tennessee southern boy back then.
Ken, the south was opened up the first time as a voting block under Nixon. Until that time, it had been an almost solid block for the Democrats. I may be wrong about this, but I think he did it in ‘68. If not, certainly in ‘72.
Don’t you think you’re holding over that Democrat issue a bit longer than it was in reality.
You would know better than I if you live there, so I could be wrong.
Look, for me it has never been about winning. I know that can sound like crazy-talk, but how I conducted myself, what I stood for, what organizations I joined, they all reflected on me.
I could no more have been a Democrat in the 60s, than I could have been a member of the Communist party. By the 1980s, the Democrat party was essentially a wing of the Communist party. My goodness the filth coming out of that party’s players in the day.
These were not your JFK types. JFK was not my cup of tea by any means, but by the 1980s standards, he was practically a card carrying Conservative.
Johnson was a power broker from way-back, but even he was gone by ‘68.
BTW, you’ve got spine if you were hawking Goldwater in NYC in 64.
I’m surprised you weren’t taken away from your parents for child abuse. ;^)
CA primary...You betcha.
Gore urges Obama to block pipeline for 'dirtiest source of fuel on the planet'
Lets hear about all of the Muslim Communists friends and colleges and how they are Communist and Muslim and how they are throwing this country to the Muslims and we will be very sorry..I did not vote for this moron either you see I did my home work and did not listen to the Communist media..
Nixon, yes..Connally also..but if you look at some of the voting totals for congressional seats in Texas...even into the 80’s...overwhelmingly Democrat..it was ingrained at the local level..GOP often didn’t even field candidates in many races...you and I, we had the courage of our convictions..but we weren’t trying to get elected...I’m not totally sold on Perry, but if he’s the nominee..I’ll support him...
Well stated. Thank You! Will be voting for a Conservative. If one runs :)
Liz, I like you, but you’ve got to quit pulling your punches. Tell us what you really think. :^)
I was watching some footage of Perry stepping up to a platform the other day. As I watched, his demeanor looked rather funny. I know I’m going to get heat for this, but the guy looked a little tweaked as he shook hands and made eye contact with the crowd.
It was like seeing someone that was “ON” to the X.
He was actually darting one place to another to shake hands. It almost looked like fast motion. The look on his face was radiant beyond what you normally see.
It was kind of strange.
Indeed. The Ramones even wrote a song critical of Tipper! (Oh, and by the way, even she divorced the New Gore.)
The Ramones - Censorshi* Tipper, what's that sticker sticking on my CD? Is that some kind of warning to protect me? Freedom of choice needs a stronger, stronger voice. You can stamp out the source, but you can't stop creative thoughts. Ah, Tipper come on, ain't you been getting it on? Ask Ozzie, Zappa or me. We'll show you what it's like to be free. Ah, Tipper come on, it's just a smoke screen for the real problems. S&L deficit, the homeless, the environment. Hey, hey all you senators wives. Better take a good look at your own lives. Before you go preaching to me. You're definitions of obscenity. Ah, Tipper come on, ain't you been getting it on? Ask Ozzie, Zappa or me. We'll show you what it's like to be free. The irony it semes it seems to me it's un-American policy. Yeah, we'e come so far but still only to find people like you with ignorant minds. Ah, Tipper come on, ain't you been getting it on? Ask Ozzie, Zappa or me. We'll show you what it's like to be free. Ah, Tipper come on, it's just a smoke screen for the real problems. S&L deficit, the homeless, the environment
Thanks Ken. I appreciate the mention. That’s interesting. Take care.
FR has gone through some bad stages, here and there.
But I’m thinking its Rick Perry Republican sycophant period is going to really, really suck. Shoot, it might even fatally suck.
Algore used to be pro-life.
FWIW, we will never find the perfect candidate. Every person has made mistakes and taken positions on issues they've later regretted. The great President Ronald Reagan was a democrat at one time. I think we need to look at where the candidate is today and make a judgment whether any change is for convenience, or is real.
I like Perry a lot because I think he is the best opposite to obama. He is experienced. He is decisive. He wants govt out of our lives. He believes in God. He is Pro-Life. All that being said I like all the other candidates except for Romney (who knows what he really believes) and Paul (he's scary on foreign policy). I really wish we would avoid being so incredibly self destructive in our support for various candidates. If we get so "married" to one candidate and someone else gets the nomination do we want to stay home?
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