RINO TX Gov. Perry trashes GOP Platform, disagrees with 50% of planks, supports only 7

Austin American Statesman ^ | July 12 | Ken Herman

[GOPcapitalist]

The full article is very lengthy, so in the interest of brevity I posted below the segment of the article (for full article see link above) specifying the positions he took against the Texas Republican Platform. There were a total of 46 planks in the survey. Perry disagreed with 50% of them. He partially agreed with 16 additional planks, and fully agreed with only 7 planks.

Where Perry, platform diverge

Highlights of Gov. Rick Perry's responses to questions about the Republican Party of Texas platform:

* The party opposes ballot initiatives and referendum votes as a bypass of "checks and balances." Perry said he "would be open to initiative and referendum with a high threshold for getting on the ballot."

* The party wants only registered voters to serve as jurors. Perry backs current law that allows all Texans except felons to serve on juries.

* Perry opposes the party's call to abolish "motor voter" laws that simplify voter registration and its call for re-registration of all voters every four years.

* Perry does not support his party's calls for life sentences without parole for habitual felony offenders and the extension of the capital punishment provision to allow the death penalty for rapists.

* Perry does not believe there is "sufficient citizen or legislator support" to abolish the Texas Lottery, as proposed in the party platform.

* Perry does not agree with his party's call for abolition of the Texas Education Agency's regulatory authority.

* Perry opposes his party's call for the "termination" of bilingual education programs in Texas.

* The Texas GOP platform calls for "a single standard for college admission for all students based on merit and ability, without regard to the school from which they graduated or class standing" -- as opposed to the top-10 percent law crafted to increase minority representation in state universities. Perry said he backs the law to "ensure that top-performing students from all parts of Texas have access to our state institutions of higher education."

* The party wants to scuttle programs that steer government contracts to minority-owned businesses. Perry said he supports the current system, which he says "encourages purchasing from Texas' historically underutilized and startup businesses."

* Perry shuns the state party's call for a radical overhaul of state and federal taxes, including a national sales tax to replace the federal income tax and other major levies.

* The platform says it "is in the best interest" of the United States to "rescind our membership" in the United Nations. Perry noted his disagreement with "many" U.N. policies but said it "is not currently in America's best interest to pull out."

* The platform said, "The current greatest threat to our individual liberties is overreaching government controls established under the guise of preventing terrorism." Said Perry: "I believe the Bush administration is properly balancing domestic security and individual liberties."

* Perry does not back his party's call for repeal of the minimum wage law.

[Illbay]

I faxed a note to Gov. Perry just before the bill got to his desk, asking him please to reconsider what he was apparently about to do. My point was that the logical conclusion of this law would be to outlaw speech. I said that I could foresee a time when suit could be brought against a minister who preached a sermon against homosexuality, for example.

Weeks later (after it was signed into law) I got a form letter back saying something like "we have to end hate in Texas." As if a LAW could possibly end a human emotion.

This was a HUGE victory for the politically-correct, and a big disappointment for many of us.

[cynicom]

Look how many people around Bush that are "former" democrats. Then look around Gore to see if you can find any "former" republicans.

[Zack Nguyen]

Dewhurst is pretty conservative, but is currently losing to Sharpe. Texas is not yet a one-party state.

[TLBSHOW]

the enemy is within. Is everyone a fake?

[Jethro Tull]

#3: But given the demographic realities of the Brave New Texas and the existing slate of candidates, what are we to do?"

Hows about exporting illegal immigrants and putting the breaks on legal immigration until the great American melting pot is fixed?

[cynicom]

TLB....

Condo Rice is "former" democrat, close bud of Gary Hart for many years. Liddy Dole is "former" democrat cheerleader for LBJ, Bush foisted her off on us here in NC for senator. The list is endless. Bush has also retained a few Clinton democrats in government, anyone that was a Clinton appointee, is no one I want around. Robert Mueller of FBI was a Clinton appointee to one or two jobs.

The termites always eat away quietly from within.

[lonestar]

I know this is an election year and realize I will probably be criticized by the "party loyalty at all costs" crowd for speaking out against Perry.

As a precinct chair and party activist, know that I agree with you 100%. I will hold my nose and vote for him as the lesser-of-two-evils. (I'm not sure about that!

Perry was a Democrat; I think he still is.

I live in Southeast Texas, still home to the "yellow dogs." Bush won all three elections he ran in on the strength of conservative Dems. Perry is going to lose them; they have no reason to vote for him over Sanchez.

My greatest fear is that it will trickle down and have influence on state rep elections. Control of the Texas Senate was determined by the vote count in my county four (or six) years ago. And I mean vote count. The GOP candidate did not carry my county but he got sufficient votes to win the election which gave control of the senate to the Republicans.

We control 19 of 21 precincts in the county and I'm afraid we will lose half of them with Perry. It's determined by votes for governor.

There is a lot riding on this election and Perry is a drag on the ticket, IMHO.

[Dead Corpse]

Try this guy. I've met Jeff and talked over the issue with him. He's boarder line for an LP'er and would probably be better off in the RLC.

[Ben Ficklin]

What is there to gain by changing the title of the article?

[Theodore R.]

I was probably the first person on this website to warn, many months ago, that Perry was not compiling anywhere nearly a conservative record in office. I think he is vulnerable, but his self-confidence is shameless. He will be the most surprised man in TX on November 6 if he loses, for he has never thus far lost an election. But he is clearly not giving many people a real reason to bother to drop by the early voting sites or the polls themselves.

[txzman]

Perry is a snake in the grass political opportunist who will change his postion with the wind. One thing is certain - if he makes it back into the Texas governership, he ain't going nowhere else.

As someone else said, most of us will be voting for him holding our noses.

[Theodore R.]

And I remember George Herbert Walker Bush gushing over "my friend Bill Clinton" at a White House "education" conference in 1989. GHWB was the last to figure out what he was doing.

[Theodore R.]

Democrat Cuellar is believed to have an excellent chance to unseat the Republican Bonilla. And Perry helped to strengthen Cuellar. Rumor is that Cuellar was caught in a compromising sexual situation in the fall of 2001 and suddenly resigned as secretary of state. He did not even inform Perry that he was quitting. He gave maybe 72 hours of notice. Perry learned from a reporter elsewhere in the state that Cuellar had stepped down. At first Cuellar said that he would vote for Perry for governor. He has since changed his mind and has joined the Sanchez camp, even though Sanchez had earlier spread ugly rumors around the state about Cuellar's sexuality.

[DoSomethingAboutIt]

Presentation to the Rotary Club of Liberty, Texas by Jeff Daiell, Libertarian Candidate for Governor of Texas

[FITZ]

And make no mistake...those nasty demographic realities are only going to get worse.

I don't think I can vote for Perry and I don't think he's going to win. You're right ----some things are inevitable in Texas --like a state income tax and some big cultural changes.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

I only disagree with Perry on five of his points and the Texas Sec of State is a nice photo op job with no power.

The Texas platform is written so that VERY FEW people with an IQ above 100 points can agree with all of it!

BTW I do NOT like Perry but then again I don't much like our Platform Committee nor those who insist we should all follow it.

[Khepera]

Can't the republican party find another candidate to run? Why should the party support candidates who are not compatible with it's mission.

[Dead Corpse]

That's the man. He's got some proposals for change that are fleshed out a lot better than anything I've read on Perry or Sanchez.

Media blackout is going to be a huge problem for Jeff to overcome. The two big party names are pretty much the only ones you hear mentioned on the nightly news bites.

[rightwing2]

Wow! Gov. Perry sounds like a real RINO! He is clearly trying to use Bush's bipartisan approach of appointing liberal Democraps to high ranking posts in his administration/judiciary. He is also repudiating conservatism while coopting much of the liberal Democrap agenda. The similarities to his predecessor, George W. Bush on these points are nothing less than STUNNING!

[BUSHdude2000]

I understand that my good friend the Curmudgeon would have quite a few comments on this one including a few, "I don't like" statements. The Texas Secretary of State in not a powerless job, granted it doesn't make the laws, but putting a lefty in charge of going by the book, well you know how that goes.

I'm curious what you diasgree with in the party platform. The party platform is more conservative than the majority of candidates that follow it. As I have said before, and maybe to you at our meetings, the platform is what the people want and it is meant to be followed by the candidates. If the candidates disagree with it so overwhelmingly, perhaps they belong to a different party. I'd love to see the people who gave Perry this quiz or test or setup or whatever it was, give the same one to Sanchez and see how closely aligned these two are.