Free Republic

Perry's opponents have unfairly painted the governor as relaxed on border security, and all too willing to give illegal immigrants a free ride. Presidential politics can be harsh sometimes, and some candidates are all too quick to foster erroneous lies about other candidates in the hope to plant seeds of doubt about how serious Perry is about border security. The ide Perry is soft on border security is just wrong. Ramshaw reports In 2005, Perry announced a $10 million state program to boost border patrols and upgrade radio systems along the border, installed hundreds of video cameras, and requested 1,000...

It's one thing to have a philosophical disagreement with the Texas governor on whether he should have mandated a vaccine for girls against a sexually transmitted virus. But it's an entirely different matter to spread false rumors about the vaccine, hoping to leverage parental fears for political gain. That's the depths to which Minnesota's Michele Bachmann has sunk in her bid to counter Rick Perry's surge in polls. It's conduct unbecoming a member of Congress, much less a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. Bachmann used the issue last week at the CNN/Tea Party Express debate in Tampa to land...

Perry sounds off on immigration, war By: Molly Ball August 20, 2011 04:14 PM EDT ROCK HILL, S.C. — Taking questions from reporters for the first time since Monday as he wrapped up a campaign swing here, Texas Gov. Rick Perry defended and expanded on his record on immigration policy — a record with positions that some of the Republican base rejects. As governor, Perry’s supported allowing illegal immigrants to get in-state tuition rates at Texas universities and opposed Arizona’s strict state immigration law — despite signing a law in Texas that critics call similarly repressive. “Here’s what you need...

One of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's biggest alleged weaknesses in the Republican presidential primary is his less-than-draconian record on immigration. Although Perry has talked a lot about cracking down on undocumented immigrants, he has done little to change Texas' status as a "sanctuary state" and, indeed, he's explicitly rejected the idea of implementing Arizona-style immigration reform. The reason for this is pretty simple: Texas' economic "miracle" is built on on a continued influx of people, as well as a preponderance of low-wage jobs, especially in the housing sector.

"I fully recognize and support a state's right and obligation to protect its citizens, but I have concerns with portions of the law passed in Arizona and believe it would not be the right direction for Texas," Perry said in a statement. The law in question, signed by Arizona's governor last week, would require immigrants to carry documents verifying their immigration status. It would also require police officers to question a person about his or her immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that person may be illegally in the country.

GREENLAND, N.H. - Following an announcement speech full of anti-Obama rhetoric, Texas Governor Rick Perry answered questions from New Hampshire political activists for nearly a half-hour on Saturday that fleshed out his policy views for a group, a state, and a country that barely knows the latest Republican presidential contender. Like most in the GOP, Perry espoused a muscular support for Israel amid a turbulent Mideast, saying, “Israel is not ever gonna have to worry, if I’m the president to the United States, where we’re gonna be.” Like most Republicans, he also labeled himself a fiscal conservative bent on reining...

My good friends John Hinderaker and Scott Johnson offer eulogies for the Tim Pawlenty presidential campaign today at Power Line, and as usual, they are quite insightful. Scott says that Pawlenty’s descent started when he backed down from challenging Mitt Romney in an earlier debate, and notes that Republicans in this cycle want a fighter. John laments the loss of the one candidate he thought could easily beat Barack Obama based on his record, and says that Pawlenty never got past “the first impression of him as just another guy in a suit.” Both are fair conclusions, and be sure...

.......Perry, who served with Pawlenty on the executive council of the Republican Governors Association working to elect more Republican governors across the country, said they had traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan together and "spent a lot of quality personal time." "He is one of my favorite governors out there, not only because of what a Republican governor did in a pretty blue state, but also in a personal way. He is one of the funniest guys I've ever been around in my life and I just love him," Perry said, adding that they often "joke and poke each other." Perry...

‘If Jeb Bush’s name were Jeb Smith, he’d be the next president of the United States,” says Texas governor Rick Perry, and then there’s a long pause in the conversation to let pass the unspoken corollary: “And if Rick Perry were the governor of Florida . . . ” People constantly ask Governor Perry if he’s thinking about running for president. In fact, they ask him if he’s thinking about running for president so often that by now he almost certainly must be thinking about running for president, even if he wasn’t thinking about it before. He plays down that...

See chart at link...

Texas governor Rick Perry - supporter of the Trans-Texas Corridor - said lots of things on a trip to Mexico today: ..."I don't think [immigration "reform"] is that difficult of an issue if Congress would have the maturity to sit down and really discuss it and cut out all of the mean rhetoric and really talk about what is a solution to this issue," Perry told a news conference. Regarding immigration reform, Perry highlighted the importance of developing a foolproof biometric identification system to track individuals and to ensure that they pay taxes and "live within our laws." Did I...

Rick Perry has called Social Security unconstitutional and presided over the execution of a man who was probably innocent. But as Paul Begala argues, that’s just the beginning. I first met Rick Perry in 1985. He was a Democratic freshman state rep, straight off the ranch in Haskell, Texas. He wore his jeans so tight, and, umm, adjusted himself so often that my fellow young legislative aides and I used to call him Crotch. Even among state representatives, even among Texas Aggies (graduates of this cute remedial school we have in Texas), Perry stood out for his modest intellectual gifts....

Rick Perry, who entered the 2012 GOP race Saturday, greeted his first crowd of voters here with two words rarely heard in these parts: with a wave, he let out a boisterous “Hi, y’all” to a crowd clad in khakis and button ups gathered around a backyard pool. There was also this: “Y’all holler outta question” to open up a question and answer session. And this when it got going: “There’s hands going up everywhere, somebody just get after it.” There were times when the three-term Texas governor sounded eerily like the “Saturday Night Live” version of George W. Bush,...

Texas Governor Rick Perry, Republican, reportedly being pushed by Texas lawmakers to throw his hat into the GOP presidential ring, very often touts his background on border security,but what about the Mr. Perry's past remarks and actions about immigration and the border? He is currently supporting a bill that was just passed by the Texas Senate that would give greater power to police officers to question those who are detained about their legal status. The AP reports: The 19-12 vote early Wednesday came after nearly eight hours of emotional debate in which Democrats railed against the bill as racist and...

Rick Perry who just announced his candidacy received more votes than Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. How much longer can Palin just drive around the country not doing much of anything and still expect to run for POTUS? A potential candidate without the organization to even manage 100 write in votes looks really really bad.