Sizing Up a Rick Perry White House Bid
There’s a sort of collective disbelief within the Texas political establishment about Gov. Rick Perry testing the uncertain waters of a presidential campaign.
Here’s a guy, once derided as “Governor Goodhair,” whose central claim to fame used to be that he was the politician who followed George W. Bush into the Texas governor’s office. This is the candidate who limped to re-election in 2006 with 39 percent of the vote. Today, even a poll in Perry’s own Texas shows he’s barely a blip on anybody’s White House radar, running behind well-established declared GOP candidates ...
Comments (11)
Wilkins Micawber
I'll be the first to acknowledge that Perry's reign as governor has been perilous for anyone who does not conform to his brand of extremism, but it has been impossible to underestimate him.
Ed Covington via Texas Tribune on Facebook
no way, the rest of the country may be full of imbeciles but they're never gonna fall for that good old boy governor from texas for president schtick again, and especially not Gov. Chiapet...
Ron Moore via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Stranger things have happened. If Perry decides to run for President, he does NOT have my vote!
Cesar Martinez Espinosa via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I don't think the 'collective disbelief within the Texas political establishment' originates in anyone's underestimation of Perry's campaigning abilities. It originates in his dismal stewardship of the State, especially in the past few years and what this could mean for the United States if he were to be elected.
Chris Thornton via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Nearly any Republican can win? There's a reason why John McCain lost in 2008. He's a RINO. If the Republican party wants to win, they'll have to nominate a true Conservative. A fiscal AND social conservative. One that IS NOT a gun-grabber. One that is PRO-Constitution. That rules out Rick Perry (land-grabber and forcer of untested vaccines on little girls against their parents wishes), Mitt Romney (Romney-care and supports Assault Weapons Ban), and Chris Cristie (against private citizens owning guns, period).
Jonathan George via Texas Tribune on Facebook
I've never voted for Perry, and was really kind of surprised that he won this past election, considering the lack of independent candidates to split the vote. Still, I feel that his tenure in office would be even worse than both Bush and Obama. If he's elected to federal office, it truly is proof we are in decline.
MaryLou VandeRiet via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Be A Cold Day In Hell, Before I'd Vote For Perry !!!!
nick pell
As a recent transplant (married to an East Texan), one of the things I've noticed is how mentally divorced from the rest of the country many Texans are. My in-laws were in town visiting, talking about how great it is that Rick Perry might run for President and that if he runs he will surely win, no way could Obama win a second term. I told them that his talk of secession (however banal it was) and his sort of Texan "otherness" would really be a turn off to most centrist voters in the other 49 states. It's like they'd never even though of that before, that people who live in other states don't think of Texas as the greatest place on Earth and that it's leaders might not be attractive to people not from Texas. I mean, Louie Gohmert makes Peter King look like a Democrat!
Mozelle Osborne via Texas Tribune on Facebook
No one should ever underestimate any Repo, most of 'um are just to misunderstandable.
Rudy Gonzales
The only reason RP beat KBH was due to fact that Debra Medina had siphoned off 20 percent of the vote. RP will never have a chance to run for the presidency because: (1)Rick Perry, the career politician from Texas who murdered a convict in the name of Texas. This convict was being deemed innocent by the "Innocence Project" but Perry allowed his execution. (2) Texas has a budget deficit directly attributed to the "Conservative" legislature and Governor. (3) Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured children in the nation. (4) Average Teacher Salary - 32nd. (5) Police Protection - 48th. (6) Environmental Protection - 45th. Governors moving towards the new Heath Care law, passed by the last Congress and fought by the current Congress, is being accepted for it's accomplishments. Texas has made moves that federal authorities have warned about. Some doctors are abandoning the GOP/TEA stance on Health Care Reform in America. Ms. Snowe-Mello, who describes herself as a conservative Republican, has been drinking too much TEA. Ronald Reagan came to national political prominence in part by railing against “socialized medicine” on doctors’ behalf. President Obama and the 111th Congress passed Health Care legislation will provide health insurance to the vast majority of the nation’s uninsured, improve competition and choice in insurance, and promote prevention and wellness. The elite of the GOP/TEA Congress would take this away at everyday American expense. Even in Texas, where three-quarters of doctors said last year that they opposed the new health law, doctors who did not have their own practices were twice as likely as those who owned a practice to support the overhaul, as were female doctors.
jpt51
If Perry's Texas economy is so great, why are housing prices down 15% from a year ago?