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The Spectacle Blog
Ron Paul won the Republican Leadership Conference straw poll this weekend, but another Texas Republican was a huge hit in New Orleans: Gov. Rick Perry. Carl Cannon reports that his speech was tremendously well received:
Displaying undeniable presence from the podium, Perry did the obligatory invoking of Ronald Reagan, but to a specific purpose: to forcefully assert his view that the two great strains of the modern Republican Party — economic libertarianism and social conservatism — are not incompatible. “Our party cannot listen to our loudest opponents on the left,” he said, in a subtle dig at Mitt Romney. “They are never going to like us, so it’s time we stopped trying to curry favor with them.”
When he finished, the crowd rose to its feet and — in the loudest and most spontaneous demonstration of the three-day meeting — broke into a clapping chant, “Run, Rick, run! Run, Rick, run!”
Perry is still mulling a presidential bid and wasn’t included on the straw poll ballot. But his appearance was part of a tour testing the waters and all indications are he would be a serious force if he got into the race.
View all comments (14) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/20/rick-perry-a-hit-at-republican
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Chris | 6.20.11 @ 10:02AM
Perry's only weakness will be defending the sacrifices he had to make (Dream Act, etc.) to win in Texas with it's strong Hispanic demographics.
Texas is 45/39/11. The US is 65/16/12. Perry also got 39% of Hispanic votes in his re-election, which is marginally better than the 33% an (R) usually gets in a nationwide election.
Any argument against his educational numbers can be easily defused using comparables broken down by ethnicity. Texas' education system is surprisingly strong. He'd be a formidable candidate, especially since he has Texas' strong economic record to run on.
Sean| 6.20.11 @ 10:48AM
Perry likes to talk tough, but his actions are often the opposite.
SpiralArchitect| 6.20.11 @ 1:30PM
A chorus to a ballad named Perry. :/
Chuck| 6.20.11 @ 10:57AM
This set up for a GOP coup...Perry beats Romney and picks Rubio as his running mate at the Tampa convention. Texas and Florida won in the general election puts the WH in reach.
Casey Abell| 6.20.11 @ 11:44AM
I pretty much agree with Jen Rubin's take...
"If he’s [Perry] weeks away from getting into the race, he won’t announce until July. That would make participation in the Ames straw poll on August 13 virtually impossible. With no organization on the ground, could he then put together a caucus victory that would displace Bachmann from the uber-conservative-not-Romney position? Tim Pawlenty would also be in the mix, and has the benefit of perhaps the best developed ground game at this stage.
"Perry would sort of be damned if he does (enter Iowa and lose to Bachmann and/or other opponents) and damned if he doesn’t (Bachmann or Pawlenty gain momentum heading into Iowa). And New Hampshire is probably the least friendly early primary state for him. He’s strong on social issues; many in the Granite State lean libertarian. He slams the Democrats and weak-kneed Republicans; New Hampshire allows independents and Democrats to vote. Perry gives fiery speeches, but he’s not known as a policy maven; New Hampshire-ites expect loads of town halls and coffees where they can quiz the candidate on everything from the flat tax to waste and abuse in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"What then would be his first clear shot — South Carolina? It’s sounding a little bit Rudy Giulianish (waiting too long to impress takes you out of contention)."
Me again: it really is starting to seem a lot like Rudy, both for Perry and Palin. Waiting around doesn't necessarily make you look more appealing. It just makes you look like you're not sure where and how to run.
If Perry declares and then starts showing up for debates and performing well, I'll take him seriously. Until then, he just gives a nice speech.
Oh, I disagree with Jen on one detail: I think Pawlenty is finished and will be no real factor. Not that he ever was.
Occam's Tool| 6.20.11 @ 12:49PM
Can we get a woman in charge, please? If I can't have Allen West.
SpiralArchitect| 6.20.11 @ 1:32PM
+1
Chris | 6.21.11 @ 10:19AM
You say that until you read her (typical) neo-con take on immigration and the national question. There's a reason she got the WaPo gig.
steve in Ohio| 6.20.11 @ 12:42PM
After 8 years of Ronald Reagan, this guy was still a Democrat. Better late than never I suppose.
Derek Leaberry| 6.20.11 @ 1:01PM
Four strikes against Rick Perry. He tried to force Gardesil down the throats of the families and girls of Texas. He tried to shove the Trans-Texas Highway down the throats of Texans, a massive highway project which would have split communities and radically altered rural Texas. He opposes the Arizona anti-illegal immigration law. And Perry was George W. Bush's lieutenant-general.
Chris | 6.21.11 @ 10:23AM
Here's a link to Perry's opposition to Arizona's SB 1070: http://www.texasgopvote.com/bl.....bate-05055
This discourages me from supporting Perry.
Toby Calvert-Lee| 6.28.11 @ 12:02AM
He criticized the bill for one reason, that it didnt provide new officers focused specifically on immigration, and oher then that, that it didn't go far enough. Sounds good to me.
e cowan| 6.20.11 @ 2:22PM
Did Gov Perry really go to a meeting of the Bilderbergers in 2007 (Perry attended the June 2007 Bilderberg conference in Istanbul, Turkey, and in doing so violated the Logan Act, a United States federal law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments.)
As well as supporting helping illegals in this country (Perry has also given enthusiastic support to former Mexican President Vicente Fox’s efforts to turn Texas into a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants.)?
If so - he's ANOTHER loser for the Republicans!
Cheap Golf Drivers | 6.21.11 @ 8:39AM
so nice post