In Re: Rick Perry
August 13, 2011 5 Comments
(Please don’t take this as bagging on Perry, I’m not.)
How the hell did that Mike Pence pic end up on a blog post about Rick Perry? I think anonymous has been messing with WordPress. Or maybe I just wanted to put up a pic of the guy I wish was running….
Be that as it may.
Well, he’s officially in the race–he being Rick Perry, not Mike Pence. I am likely to support him in the primary, at least right now–so now seems as good a time as any for a bit of due diligence.
Illegal immigration. As far as negatives go, this is the first thing that really jumps out. (I tweeted earlier that being a squish on illegal immigration could be his Achilles heel, which oddly enough was the exact phrase that MSLSD used a ‘couple days ago.)
As a member of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, this uses up a lot of 80/20 Rule slack for me, but given that we are living in (don’t kid yourself) in a very polarized time, politically, I’ll set that aside for a moment–but I don’t relish the thought of supporting a candidate who supports “comprehensive immigration reform,” which normal people call “amnesty for illegals.”
Other questions to ask:
Is he better than Romney?
Speaking of Ann Coulter, what about Christie?
What about Palin?
Can he beat Obama? Would Romney do any better? What’s the cost/benefit risk ratio?
Are the hardcores (full disclosure: I scored to the right of Jim DeMint on Tim Groseclose’s Political Quotient survey) going to go commit GOP suicide like Ron Paul and vote for Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney, or something equally destructive and unforgivable, if Perry is the candidate?
Can he win Ohio, Florida, and/or Pennsylvania…am I forgetting any important swing states?
Feel free to opine thusly, and add whatever you have to say about Perry.
(Warning: I will squash comments with these keywords: Bilderburgers. Ron Paul. RINO. Bush.)
Flaming Dumbass 
Well, you do have to remember even Reagan was for “comprehensive immigration reform”.
Problem was then, and now, we only got the amnesty part, not the “comprehensive” part. If Perry can show how “comprehensive” would actually work, it wouldn’t be a negative…
What’s wrong with Build-A-Burger? Oh, wait…
Seriously, waiting for Sarah Palin’s decision. Until then, firmly on the sidelines.
Also speaking of Ann Coulter, not just no, but HELL no on Christie after he paraded his profound ignorance of the Shariah-vs-Constitution issue last week.
I will be shocked if Palin runs for 2 reasons: I don’t think she’d expose her young children to the even more elevated level of media savaging they’d get, and the general tone of her comments to David Brody today http://www.redstate.com/california_yankee/2011/08/13/palin-is-not-going-to-run/
I know it’s superficial and meaningless, but it matters a LOT with people who don’t pay much attention to politics but still vote: Perry has about an order of magnitude more charisma than Romney does.
I, too, cringe at him supporting a “comprehensive immigration strategy,” but he seems darned strong on every other issue pertinent to getting us out of the economic and foreign policy mess we find ourselves in these days, so I’m inclined to support him.
Bottom line: Thus far, he looks like the most conservative candidate who can win. ‘Nuff said.
She’s being too cute at this point. Or maybe coy is the word. But that will mix it up again if she gets in, for sure!
That troubles me about on the same level as being for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (Subliminal Man says: Amnesty). Also, the Tea Parties better get used to being told to sit down and shut up with Ann’s savior, because he will do it to us as well.
She never should have quit, no matter the circumstances. That disqualifies her for higher office in my eyes–and I didn’t realize it until I wrote this sentence.
But Perry having more charisma is offset by the fact that Coastal people hate Texas more than cancer and Aquavelvajad combined.
I agree. I am prioritizing down an issue that means enough to me that I joined an organization whose sole purpose is to combat it, and I agree.
GMTA. Buckley Rule.
I think my post may have seemed more negative on Perry than I meant. But I’m thinking Buckley Rule and Reagan and get that Marxist out of the White House uber alles.