"Rick was not here. "
I found a similar article from a long-time columnist for the Houston Chronicle. This kind of diminishes one of the Perry-bashers key talking points...
Perry Ping!
I don’t think Algore was nearly as nutty as he is now when he was a US Senator from Tennessee. I don’t think he would have lasted very long in that normal state.
Funny, the face book as been scrub, here is prior :http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rick-Perry/106153772748276?sk=info
The legend has been aired routinely for more than 13 years, originally by a Democratic opponent of Perry’s, and in news reports—all but unchallenged by Perry. Even we at PolitiFact Texas repeated the story as fact.”
Geez, I’ve seen people give eye-witness testimony to it on this board 1,000 times. Odd.
Even if its true, I could care less. The man has a 20 year record in government since then to run on. Pulling up things from 1988 is silly when you have 10+ years as governor of one of the largest states to analyze as a record.
See I remember the 1980’s and even these so called ‘southern conservatives’ were opposed to Reagan's stand against the continued spread of soviet style communism... This post does NOT spring forth clean clear water... it only raises more questions.
That won't stop the anti-Perry types from spreading the Al Gore "campaign chair" claim.
What, then, does he have to say for himself? Has he provided a valid explanation?
[By the way, I would consider: "I was really drunk/stoned at the time" to be a better explanation than: "I honestly thought that Al Gore would make a better president than George W. Bush". After all, a person can quit using intoxicants, but as another famous Texan, Ron White, says: oes: You can't fix stupid.]
Some info from Wikipedia:
In 1984, Perry was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat from district 64, which included his home county of Haskell. He served on the House Appropriations and Calendars committees during his three two-year terms in office. He befriended fellow freshman state representative Lena Guerrero of Austin, a staunch liberal Democrat who endorsed Perry’s reelection bid in 2006 on personal, rather than philosophical, grounds.
Perry was part of the “Pit Bulls”, a group of Appropriations members who sat on the lower dais in the committee room (or “pit”) who pushed for austere state budgets during the 1980s.[16] At one point, The Dallas Morning News named him one of the ten most effective members of the legislature.[17]
In 1987, Perry voted for a $5.7 billion tax increase proposed by Republican governor Bill Clements.[18] Perry supported Al Gore in the 1988 Democratic presidential primaries and chaired the Gore campaign in Texas.[19][20] In 1989, Perry announced that he was switching parties, becoming a Republican.[21]
In 1990, as a newly minted Republican, Perry challenged Jim Hightower, the incumbent Democratic Agriculture Commissioner. Hightower had worked on behalf of Jesse Jackson for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, while Perry had supported U.S. Senator Al Gore of Tennessee.
...
As Agriculture Commissioner, Perry was responsible for promoting the sale of Texas farm produce to other states and foreign nations, and for supervising the calibration of weights and measures, such as gasoline pumps and grocery store scales.[24]
In 1993, Perry, while serving as Texas agriculture commissioner, expressed support for the Clinton health care reform proposal, describing it as “most commendable.” The health care plan was ultimately unsuccessful due to Republican congressional opposition.
Well, maybe he wasn’t Al Gore’s chair.
But...Ron Paul said that Rick Perry is not a real conservative!
Must be true!
Perry endorsed a Global Warming Alarmist (as of 1987), pro-abortion (Senate voting record, 1984 on), and gun grabbing Gore in 1988(1987 viewed as one of Brady Bill’s staunchest supporters by Sarah Brady). What matters it if he was chairman in Texas or not? Though I do remember being surprised in 1987/88 when I researched some of Gore’s supporters.
So he wasn’t state chair, just an avid supporter.
I have the most horrible feeling that this was supposed to make me feel better.
I went to an ‘88 fund raiser for Al in Nashville. He made a brief, very, statement. Came around, shook my hand, stood around awkwardly and then moved on.
The next week on superstation WGN, I watched an Illinois primary political ad for Gore where he was just another class warfare sleaze bag Bolshecrat. I never voted for him again.
That said, Run Al Run!
Isdn’t it interesting that DumocRATs and Perry haters use the SAME LIE!
"Rick was not here. "