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Politics I’m not a Rick Perry fan, but he could get my vote

I’m not a Rick Perry fan. And honestly, it’s not because he was a man-cheerleader for the Aggies. (It’s a little poke at the Ags, don’t get worked up.) In fact, it’s kind of hard to put my finger on why I’m not a Rick Perry fan.

But you should know this: Rick Perry is more popular with conservatives from outside the State of Texas than he is with conservatives from Texas. I’m conservative. I’m from Texas. And I can tell you that I’m not alone with the reaction of: Really? Rick Perry?

I imagine this is what the Tennessee Titans felt like when Dan Snyder developed a man-crush on Albert Haynesworth over a week’s time and threw $100M at him to join the Redskins. Bud Adams and Jeff Fisher had to have sat there and said…”really?”

In an attempt to quantify my lack of love for Rick Perry, here’s a list of things – from “No Concern At All” to “Very Concerning” – about the governor of Texas.

Not At All A Concern: It doesn’t bother me at all – that on the surface – he is reminiscent of Bush. And let’s be clear, “the guy that NPR executives and the New York Times and your average Subaru-driving Whole Foods shopper were afraid George W. Bush was? Rick Perry is that guy”, as Kevin Williamson so eloquently wrote in National Review.

The fact that Perry is all swagger and boots doesn’t bother me. It won’t bother anybody. In fact, it will be a net positive. Joseph Weisenthal tweeted the other day, “people who think Perry’s Texas-ism won’t play USA-wide are dumb. Northerners have a love for that s**t, borne out of an inferiority complex.” He’s right. It evokes leadership.

Not A Concern: It’s not a problem that Perry was a Democrat in the 1980s. Most Southerners, many Texans, and damn-near all rural Texans were still Democrats in the 1980s. Perry was conservative, no matter what jersey he wore.

Mildly Concerning: Perry championed the Trans-Texas Corridor, a massive transportation network of highways, tollways, railways and utility lines bundled together and stretching 4,000 miles across the state … but would have made extensive use of eminent domain.

More Concerning: I didn’t like The Response…the Governor’s 30,000-attendance call for prayer at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. I’m not a religious guy, but I went to enough Sunday school to learn Matthew 6: 5-6, ““And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Pretty Concerning: In 2003 Perry started both the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to act as sort of a venture fund and bribe businesses to come to Texas. It worked. But it should give pause to anyone with a commitment to free market capitalism.

Concerning: In 2007 Perry issued an executive order mandating that all Texas girls entering the Sixth Grade be vaccinated for HPV. Do I need to say more on this?

Very Concerning: During the whole HPV vaccination deal it came out that Perry’s former chief-of-staff was a lobbyist for Merck, the maker of Gardisil, the only HPV vaccine on the market at the time. Similarly, as the Wall Street Journal wrote, millions of dollars of the Texas Enterprise Fund and Texas Emerging Technology Fund (described above) went to people close to Perry. Accusations of cronyism and patronage have hovered around Perry.

All of the above have made people (people who have followed him for more than a week) question whether Perry is really a conservative or if he’s just a politician in a conservative state. I think he’s both. A conservative. And a politician.

It’s a joke that so many Republican bloggers from Florida or Washington DC or New York City think Perry is some conservative savior. He’s a populist and a politician. But…I think he’s a conservative politician. And…in the end…I think his convictions are in the right place. But I’m not a fan.

I think the main reason I don’t much like Perry is that he’s not that likeable. Setting aside his policies, George W. Bush had a characteristic…call it charm, call it charisma…that made you want to have a beer with him. And it made you want to vote for him. Rick Perry is the opposite.

Earlier this week I interviewed Bill McKenzie of the Dallas Morning News who said that Perry had a Nixonian quality to him. Spot on. Exactly. It’s as though Perry…driven by some insecurity… has an antagonistic relationship with everyone…even those that cheer.

Look, Rick Perry is not ideal. But ideal is not in the race. So being a not-very-likeable, populist, politician…but one who is conservative…might be enough to win my vote. It just doesn’t inspire fandom.



Comments (9)

  • workingclass artist
    Posted on August 18, 2011 at 11:08am

    On the Laura Ingraham show Joe Lieberman(CT) who is retiring from the Senate said he appreciated the response as a devout Jew. He said he likes to know what drives the principles of a candidate. He just published a book on the importance of the Sabbath for Jews and Christians in America. He reminded Laura that this country was founded by religious men and to try and drive faith from Americans is well unamerican.
    A former Bluedog from CT was defending Perry’s right to pray…Can’t make that up.

    Report Post » workingclass artist  
  • workingclass artist
    Posted on August 18, 2011 at 10:56am

    Nixonian quality?

    thanks for the first chuckle I needed with my coffee…

    In Texas we natives are never “fans” of any politician…Even Sam Houston had his critics.

    Report Post » workingclass artist  
    • Will Cain
      Posted on August 18, 2011 at 11:51am

      Come on…you see it, right? Not that it matters a ton…but Perry isn’t happy, wouldn’t be fun to hang around…like Nixon.
      PS – I‘m almost in Perry’s camp by default. And you should know this critique comes from 6-7 generation “native” (to use your word) Texan.

      Report Post »  
    • workingclass artist
      Posted on August 19, 2011 at 1:03am

      Perry is an aggie…Never heard him compared to Nixon. He would never cut it in the legislature that long. imho

      Report Post » workingclass artist  
    • seventhgenerationtexan
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:51am

      Sam Houston‘s biggest critics were the ones that didn’t want Texas to become a part of the United States. His biggest critics thought it was a better idea to break from the Union and join the Confederacy. His biggest critics thought it was better for Texas to wallow in the collective backwaters of Texas and Mexico than to join the Union. His biggest critics wanted him to stand and fight Santa Ana at Gonzales rather than lure him into an impossibly long supply line and march weary his troops to near the U.S. border and strike when at least the potential for victory was in view. Sam Houston gave his life to Texas and to the salvation of Texas that he knew lay in statehood. So, should you feel like defending Rick Parry, perhaps you should conjure another Texas historical political figure like Tom Delay. But not Sam Houston.

      Report Post »  
  • workingclass artist
    Posted on August 18, 2011 at 10:38am

    It’s simple.
    1.Perry is a native Texan so his values are real.
    2. Texans especially natives are always grousing about politicians even the ones we like who do their jobs.
    3. Texas has jobs ad over 5000 people move here a month so something is working isn’t it And Perry should get his due credit. It’s been a hard year for Texas, Drought,EPA,Gulf Oil Moratoriums,Border Wars, And Obama’s petty war on the states…Perry has been an able executive to keep the Texas economy humming. When other states send committees to talk to your governor to see how he’s applied Reagan Common Sense Conservative principals to lead his team to spur the growth that is a good sign.
    4.Gov.Scott of Florida recently said he wakes up every day and asks himself what he can do to bring more jobs to Florida than Perry does to Texas…Perry inspires a healthy competition cause that’s the American way.
    5. Down here in Texas that’s called Leadership…We keep electing him cause he’s been effective for our state. He gets the job done.

    Report Post » workingclass artist  
    • seventhgenerationtexan
      Posted on August 20, 2011 at 12:38am

      Since when does being someone who has been in Texas for a couple of generations automatically qualify his opinions as “real values.” That’s absurd. Especially when he oversaw the death of an innocent man on death row and then covered it up by disbanding the forensic investigation committee set to uncover the truth.

      Grousing goes without saying? Get to know Dan Branch. He’s doing one helluva job. At least he has original and implementable ideas that work for the majority of people in the state, not just his constituents.

      And those 5000 jobs a month? Just what does Rick Parry have to do with $80.00 to $100.00 a barrel oil or $4.00 mcfu gas? You might as well give President Obama credit for flooding the system with stimulus money to repair those roads and bridges, schools and hospitals Governor Perry has all but abandoned.

      Jobs in a carbon based economy are a temporary substitute for education which the he also has thumbed his nose at. Just ask the Regents at Texas A&M and The University of Texas what they think about his theories about research and development. Holy cow.

      The guy appeals much like the former governor of Alaska, to the most base emotions of the population that want life to reflect the television of their youth: Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver. Ask the women and minorities in your life if they want to return to the decade between 1955 and 1965. But then, I guess, everyone would know their place. Gig’em Aggie.

      Report Post »  
  • Moocephus
    Posted on August 18, 2011 at 9:19am

    It seems to me that Perry is only looking out for Perry which is NOT what we need. We need to stop voting in these career politicians again and again. Their crony-ism is the stench that fills both aisles of washington.

    Report Post » Moocephus  
    • workingclass artist
      Posted on August 18, 2011 at 10:47am

      Americans need an able and experienced commonsense Executive. If you can do that in a state like Texas you can do it in America. What we don’t need is another president who will learn economics and management on the job…We don’t need more ID social politics and stupid spending and legislation. We need to let the states manage their affairs and get the Federal Goons out of the way, boost economic growth,stabilize our foreign policy,secure our borders and stop the bleeding.

      Perry has the balls to do that and the political skills to lead a team to do it like Reagan did.

      Report Post » workingclass artist  

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