Free Republic

Gov Perry will not seek re-election.

Rick Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history, said Monday he won't seek re-election in 2014. The staunch Christian and fiscal conservative said he will instead spend the remaining 18 months of his term guiding Texas through innovation and job creation. However, Perry did not rule out a second Republican presidential run. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/08/texas-gov-perry-wont-seek-re-election-in-2014/?test=latestnews#ixzz2YV3bZamK

Texas Gov. Rick Perry was booed at the state GOP convention Thursday when he mentioned his support for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s candidacy for Senate...Dewhurst is facing former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz in a run-off election for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Cruz has largely drawn support from more conservative elements of the party.

If you read between the lines of the various news reports about the Cain operation, the picture becomes clearer to me every day. The latest dust up about the sexual harassment of employees confirms it. Leading up to the sex scandal, we had the clues. Now I know it to be so, that Herman Cain is an ass, and he's reckless.The first clue came just after Cain placed poorly in the Iowa straw polls. We heard from disgruntled former Cain staffers: Jim Zeiler, the regional field director who was one of the five disgruntled staffers who left, explained his...

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Rick Perry gave the crowd tonight at the Cornerstone Action Dinner a peek at a different Rick Perry than the one that’s been on display in recent debates and television interviews. Perry, who has received criticism over his lack of energy in some debates and speeches, adopted a more lively tone as he spoke to the conservative advocacy group, despite having to miss his Texas Rangers play in game seven of the World Series. snip As he joked with the crowd of approximately 450 people, Perry compared the slogan of the state of New Hampshire to that...

DO CONSERVATIVES WANT TO WIN IN 2012 OR NOT? This is a serious question, by no means rhetorical. Conservatives may be full of sound and fury against Zero, but it signifies nothing without actual evidence, of which there is little. Tea Partyers can wave the American flag and proclaim their passion for reclaiming America, but you can't beat something with nothing. If this isn't true, then why is a Total Rino way ahead in the polls? ******************* Perry's tax and economic reform proposal is far, far better (and better thought out) than Cain's 9-9-9, which keeps changing and necessitates a...

Rick Perry, who made clear during his Bill O'Reilly interview last night that he finds the debate formats geared toward promoting a fight, is going to the No. 9 one after that - but is a question mark for some of the glut of face-offs after that. Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the issue is using time wisely, and noted their campaign is not alone in that. "I think all the campaigns are expressing frustration right now," Miner told POLITICO. "We said we would do Michigan but the primaries are around the corner and you have to use your time...

Because Governor Rick Perry has backed some especially harsh anti-illegal immigrant legislation (like a bill that would outlaw sanctuary cities) Latino rights activists want Hispanics to switch over to the republican party and vote Perry out of the G.O.P race for the presidential nomination during the upcoming primary season. ... "I think to a lot of Democrats what Governor Perry represents is something that they detest"

Flat Tax Outpaces 9-9-9 in Poll, Notably Among Conservatives Gary Langer October 25, 2011 A flat tax like the one proposed today by Republican presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry engenders a split decision in public opinion — if not the warmest reception, a better one than the public’s broader disapproval of his rival Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan.While a flat tax divides the nation overall, moreover, it resonates most strongly in a group of particular interest to Perry – “very conservative” Americans, a key GOP voting group. They hold favorable views of a flat tax by a broad 68-28 percent in...

Davenport, Iowa (CNN) - On Monday, the only history professor running for president offered stern lectures on economic policy, against President Obama - and even attempted to school Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. "I literally felt like, the other night, I was the recess monitor on the playground, watching these two kids," Newt Gingrich said at a town hall in Davenport, Iowa. The former House speaker was referencing the bitter back-and-forth between the former Massachusetts governor and current Texas governor at last week's Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, sponsored by CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference. Gingrich also...

Robert "The Other" McCain writes in HotAir.com Sunday that Perry's "prime directive" is to destroy Herman Cain. The Other McCain could not be more wrong. Herman Cain has risen in the polls, as Rick Perry's poll numbers have plummeted, because Cain is seen at the glamour candidate of the moment that is Not Mitt Romney. Cain is more than that, though. Cain is likeable, and even among Perry supporters like myself, admired. Besides that, if you ask my wife, the chicks dig him. You cannot "destroy" a candidate that is so adorable that the chicks dig him. Nor can you...

Greetings Friends, Neighbors and Fellow Citizens! Come one, come all and give your summary of the debate tonight. Looking forward to the commentary and I bid you all good evening. My analysis: Romney- dishonest and irritating as usual. Will not support. Cain- like a lot; but he means on the job training. No amateur hour. Perry- genuine. He stepped up tonight finally. Executive experience. I support Santorum- Don't think there's much chance there Michelle- Shrill, whiney. Five years in congress is not enough experience Gingrich- Excellent. Can support. Ron Paul- has got to go. Flat a**ed crazy.

PHOENIX - After first apologizing for suggesting an electric fence along the border, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain told reporters here Monday that he still thinks it's a good idea for controlling illegal immigration. "I'm not walking away from that," he said. Cain has spent the last several days explaining a controversial comment about building an electrified fence along the U.S. - Mexico border that he said could kill people trying to enter the country illegally. On Sunday, he said his comments were "a joke." But talking to reporters here after a meeting here with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio,...

Fundraising figures released over the weekend demonstrate that only two Republican candidates -- Mitt Romney and Rick Perry -- enter the dash to the nomination with both the financial support and the campaign infrastructure that equip them fully to compete. And the Obama campaign -- eager to ensure that no candidates get free rides in the primaries -- has already begun making assumptions about whom President Obama is likely to face in the general election. That means Romney is coming under pressure from both sides, even as he seeks to consolidate Republican support early in the process. Before we get...

Romney has had a big boost from the Republican establishment, which decided a while back he's the serious candidate with a chance of beating President Obama. The establishment also decided that upending Texas Gov. Rick Perry's chances is the best way to ensure a Romney victory, since none of the other candidates in the race are very serious and the establishment utterly failed in coaxing NJ Gov. Chris Christie into the race. Cain and Romney are also buddies. Cain endorsed Romney last time around and Romney finds various ways to praise Cain, even going so far as telling a NH...

Gov. Rick Perry will win the GOP nomination for the presidency. Here's why. Mitt Romney is a certified RINO, a ruling class Republican of the type that spawned the Tea Party. There would be no Tea Party were it not for big government, country club Republicans like Mitt Romney. Herman Cain does not have the money or organization to go the distance, Newt Gingrich is too flawed personally, Michelle Bachmann is out of gas, and Ron Paul is and will always be a fringe candidate. Rick Santorum has yet to gain any real traction and that is unlikely to change....

"But the real question is: Does Governor Perry continue to believe that Social Security should not be a federal program, that it's unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states, or is he going to retreat from that view?" In other words: Is my opponent an extremist who'd lead the party to ruin or a weasel who can't stand by his guns? On the Texas economy, Romney said, "I think Governor Perry would agree with me that if you’re dealt four aces, that doesn't make you necessarily a great poker player." Earlier Romney had sounded the same note, saying...

From the bottom of the polls to the top of the pack, businessman Herman Cain won the Republican Party of Florida’s nationally watched presidential straw poll Saturday in a sign that frontrunner Rick Perry is in deep trouble. Cain’s victory with 37 percent of the vote was a major defeat for Perry, the frontrunner in Florida and national polls, who garnered only 15 percent after wooing the nearly 3,000 party faithful with a free breakfast and mailers. The vote also showed how soft Republican support is for Mitt Romney, who came in third with 14 percent. Unlike Perry, though, he...

It wasn't fully clear at the time, but the political ground was shifting under Rick Perry's feet from virtually the moment he arrived here in Orlando for the Republican presidential debate and Florida GOP straw poll. Just how much the ground shifted wasn't apparent until early Saturday evening, when Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced the poll's results: Perry, and fellow leader Mitt Romney, and the rest of the Republican field finished far behind longshot winner Herman Cain. ..... Perry made a big effort to win the straw poll, and a week before the voting, it appeared he would reap big...

Maybe Mitt Romney doesn't realize that nearly all of the rest of children of illegals had no choice in whether to live in Texas or not. If they were brought there by parents who were illegal--how is that the child's fault? Is Romney ready to charge those children with crimes? Mass deportations? Even Romney has not pledged to go that far.