Posted on 10/06/2011 10:35:23 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
HOUSTON -- Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Thursday that he would definitely consider an invitation to run as the eventual nominee’s vice president, except if the nominee turns out to be Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Cain, who rocketed to the top tier of the GOP field in several recent polls, was asked by reporters on the campaign trail for his thoughts on a hypothetical invitation to run as the eventual nominee’s No. 2. After offering the obligatory comment that he intends to be the nominee, Cain said, “Quite frankly, based upon Gov. Perry’s position on some issues, I would not be comfortable being his vice presidential nominee.”
Those issues include Perry’s moderate stances on immigration. As governor, Perry supported legislation offering in-state college tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, which has become a flash point in his campaign. Cain said, “Issues relative to being soft on the border, issues relative to the whole, you know, tuition for children of illegal aliens. And I haven’t totally gone through all of his positions, but a lot of positions I have questions with.”
Cain, who is black, was critical of Perry after the Washington Post reported Sunday that his family owned a Texas hunting camp once known as “Niggerhead,” a word that was also painted on a rock near the camp’s entrance. Perry has maintained that his father painted over the word as soon as he bought the property in the 1980s. And Cain subsequently said he believed Perry’s explanation.
Of a vice presidential slot in general, Cain said, “I would not say no to being vice president of the United States. But it would depend upon who got the nomination. I will support who gets the nomination. I know I have said that there are some people right now who I cannot support, but I wouldn’t say no to it. I could say yes. But it has to be someone who I believe I can complement them in their job by being able to bring my skills to the table.”
Perry has quite loudly stated he wants lower taxes, less regulation and ligation. He wants less federal government oversight of states and a return to a more local control of education. He wants to make Washington D.C. as inconsequential as possible in our lives.
Many of the actions he's taken as governor show his commitment to exactly those goals -- as he is actively been fighting the feds on many of them and winning some.
If you're not happy knowing that 48% of jobs in the country were in Texas, I can't help that. It is a fact. The state of Texas has been a lab showing how less government has worked.
Legislation that pinned back the ears of trial lawyers has created a boom in medical personnel and facilities as they have swarmed into Texas. Buying health insurance across state lines would be a good thing. Let's open up that free market again.
States along with Texas are having a friendly competition to see who can bring businesses to their states -- Florida and Wisconsin (among others) have made a friendly climate and have watched businesses relocate to their states. Right to work and no state income tax are big pluses in some states. High tax states and states with union control and over regulation are losing as businesses leave, taking jobs and revenue to more friendly states.
Perry wants the border sealed. He wants federal control of our international border and national security laws enforced. He does not believe in amnesty. As president, Perry will not leave this as a problem to fester along the border or in border states or continue to watch it bleed across the country. If a worker program is on the table and the laws are enforced and the border is sealed and the drug cartels are killed off -- we are probably getting back to a normal way of life on the border. Also, all the federal give away programs that have encouraged citizens and illegals to drift to the Democratic Party will be viewed critically. Perry is for a conservative ascendancy not a continued slide toward socialism.
He believes in American exceptionalism and standing with our allies.
Now, you’ve done it. Expect to see a thread soon claiming that Perry is really a dope dealer, that’s why he likes open boarders.
Exactly, but many are not looking at the reality on the ground. Red Meat rhetoric is everything for them, the facts, truth, and reality be damned.
WOW. I knew it was rough but those pics get the point across better than 10,000+++++ words.
Huh? Who was lying about him? He wrote a gushing piece about Romney in 2008 and I personally think he is angling to be Romney’s VP.
In any case, the only one I don’t like is Romney. I don’t think some of the others have much of a chance (Bachmann was my favorite, but she’s already over), but the only one I wouldn’t vote for is Romney.
A picture is worth a thousand words but your commentaries are 100% correct :)
He's still my second choice, though.
And Perry (to add to Post #202) wants ObamaCare OUT!
See Posts 191 & 197...
I’ve built fences.
I wouldn’t want to have to build ‘em there.
And I don’t know how much good it’d do if I did.
May be Perry should bring some of these pictures to the debates and on the campaign trail just to show the futility of building a fence on the Texas-Mexican borders.
So is Cain saying he has no skills he could add to Rick Perry's skills, or is he saying Rick Perry is so racist that he wouldn't LET Cain bring his skills to the table? Whichever one is his reasoning for not wanting to be Perry's VP, it sounds like hogwash to me.
But there are folks on this site, fueled by some extreme bitterness and/or bile, having never been within 1000 miles of the border, that know that somehow, that is what we need to be doing.
Factor in the steps Perry and Texas have taken to attempt to control it on their own, with Texans' money and with little to no help from the Feds.
Looked at it from that perspective, it amplifies his position that there is no one in the race currently with his experience dealing with this problem.
And if people would actually LOOK at it, they'd see how "pie-in-the-sky" some of the other candidates' positions are on the issue.
Herb Cain doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. Perry couldn't have painted over the rock had he wanted to since he didn't even own the property. Cain would have been better off acknowledging he needed more information about this before sliming Perry with the race card. This is basically the same thing as Barry Obama's "Cambridge Police acted stupidly" comment. The only reason it is being defended on FR is because of a handful of anti-Perry posters, and Herb Cain's own ignorance about it before opening his yap.
I also like how Herb is allowed to apologize for this, but Perry isn't allowed to apologize for his "you don't have a heart" gaffe, but that's for another time and place.
Sorry but this is exactly the same thing I heard, and bought, in 2000. I HAD to back GW Bush to stop McCain. Only GW Bush could beat Gore. We could ask no questions about Bush's positions we had to support him. To question Bush's postions or his records or his background was to be pro McCain or Pro Gore.
Sorry Perry is going to have to earn Conservative support this time. He cannot demand it with this sort of Cult of Personality campaigning.
Conservatives have been fooled by these sorts tactics before, we will not be buffaloed again.
Pinging you to Post 233.
I keep forgetting. :(
You’re welcome.
233 should be 213!
DAMmit!
Perry has actually done something about border security, too; Texas has spent $400 million reinforcing the border.
But I agree that whoever is the candidate has got to have a rational approach on dealing with the backlog of people who are technically illegal but have lived here for most of their lives. I think Perry’s big error was that he pitched it as compassionate instead of making the very good economic and social case that can be made for it. The bill passed the TX legislature by something like 176 to 4, incidentally, so you can see he wasn’t the only one!
I find this attempt by Romney forces to smear Perry on this to be particularly disgusting. Not only does Romney not live in a border state, but he’s giving a wink-wink, nudge-nudge sort of permission to a really ugly xenophobia and nativist impulse that seems to lurk here and there. In other words, as with everything with Romney, there’s deniability - he doesn’t actually have to say it, just imply it and fools will rush out to say the ugly words. Sadly, this is going to have an impact on Hispanic voters, who are by no means all illegal immigrants (or they wouldn’t be voters), because nobody seems to care about the millions of non-Hispanic illegal immigrants (Africans, Russians, Chinese, Middle Easterners) who are here and this sudden concern about “illegals” comes across as real bigotry against Hispanics.
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