Perry for President? Maybe, But Slow Down
Hot off the heels of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s decisive victory over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson for the Lone Star State’s GOP gubernatorial nomination, Daily Beast columnist Mark McKinnon thinks the governor is well-positioned for a bid at the presidency, or at least the VP slot:
There’s a fight right now for the soul of the Republican Party. There’s a dominant and loud wing led by social ideologues like Sarah Palin, who endorsed Perry. But if she doesn’t run for president—and if she’s actually smart, she won’t because she’ll never wield as much power, influence, or money than she does now, and she’s unlikely to win a general election—then the field opens up considerably. And who’s left to fill that right- wing spectrum? Mike Huckabee has a prison commutation problem. Rick Santorum has a narrow Christian base of support and as a former senator spent a lot of time inside the unpopular Beltway. And if a more moderate candidate like Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, or Mitch Daniels (watch out for Mitch “the Knife”) wins the nomination, they’ll be looking for someone to put in the No. 2 slot with appeal to Southerners and strong conservatives.
Perry currently denies having any interest in the White House, but given the nature of politics, that doesn’t mean much. And McKinnon is right that there’s no clear-cut conservative favorite among the current field of presumed 2012 contenders, giving Perry a potential opening if he wants it. But should conservatives want Perry?
The pro-life tax cutter’s record as governor is generally conservative, though there are a few issues the Right should keep in mind. In February 2007, he signed an executive order mandating that sixth-grade girls in Texas public schools be vaccinated with Merck & Company’s then-new vaccine against the sexually-transmitted Human Papilloma Virus, despite concerns over the drug’s safety and parental rights. He has condemned several conservative immigration-reform proposals using similar “divisiveness” rhetoric as the Left. During the 2008 Republican presidential primary, Perry’s first instincts were to endorse the most liberal candidates in the field, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain.
McKinnon also notes Perry’s brief flirtation with the idea that, “if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows” whether or not Texas might secede from the Union (even thought they legally can’t). The subsequently-disavowed sentiment was more political theatre than sincere proposal, but no matter how objectionable we might find the federal government’s current agenda, conservatives should be extremely wary of irresponsible rhetoric about breaking apart the nation just because elections don’t go our way.
McKinnon suspects the blemishes will fade from public memory if Perry wins the general election. Perhaps they will, and given the entirety of the final slate of 2012 candidates, who knows whether or not his imperfections will be better or worse than any other candidates? It’s much too early to be heralding or disqualifying any new standard-bearers, but it’s the perfect time to warn conservatives not to fall for the same trap we tend to keep stumbling into: hero worship.
We on the Right often seem so desperate to find another Ronald Reagan to rescue us from Democrats and RINOs alike that we’ll quickly anoint anybody who shows the first sign of promise, often without carefully judging whether or not they actually fit the bill. George W. Bush, Fred Thompson, Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul—all these figures have certain positive qualities (some more so than others), but to varying degrees they’ve all also been built up into heroic, almost Messianic figures that no true human could live up to, their failings all but ignored. Putting somebody on too high a pedestal is a guarantee that when they fall, the impact will be that much harder.
Nobody really knows who the best choice to challenge Barack Obama might be. But we should have been burned more than enough times to understand that the decision is not one to be made lightly.
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Hailing from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Calvin Freiburger is a political science major at Hillsdale College. He also blogs at the Hillsdale Forum and his personal website, Calvin Freiburger Online.
Forget Rick Perry. He is a Bilderberger and a globalist. He doesn't care about this country and would sell it out to the highest bidder.
Ron Paul 2012!
Thank you for wonderfully demonstrating my point about hero worship.
(By the way, your candidate agrees with Perry on secession: http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/21/ron-paul-se...
As a Texan, The day Perry gets my vote to be President will be the day they pry my ballot from my dead fingers. Why would we want to foist this loser on the rest of the country?
Joseph, hopefully that will never have to happen. That being said, it is time to throughly scrub this country clean of the corruption that infects Washington DC as well as every state. This malignancy has far reaching tenticles that are invasive and intertwins with every aspect of government. Perry is part of the problem, not of the solution, I agree with you and I am not a Texan. Examples of those that need to go surface everyday. Lindsay Graham is now pro Cap and Trade, because apparently he believes in "some" aspects of GW. I wish that they would just all come out with their beliefs so that the guessing would not be necessary.
Agreed, this dude proposed paying for education by taxing strip clubs! what a schlub!
If Republican "leadership" is seriously considering Sarah Palin for 2012, they've lost. She could not beat Obama, even if he told the truth for a change. Isn't Michael Steele, head of the RNC, supposed to be looking for and helping good candidates? All I hear from that quarter is confusion.
Sarah Palin can beat Obama without lifting her little finger, and the left knows it. They are terrified of her.
Please, you people wise up. Who has had great success in at least three levels of governmental leadership? Sarah Palin. Who has been vetted more than any other politician in recent history? Sarah Palin. There are no skeletons in her closet. Who has a definite record of conservative success in her policies, and consistent in her values? Sarah Palin. Who has the attention of the America and the world? Sarah Palin. Who in the republican can draw thousands to hear them speak, and get the attention of every major media network? Sarah Palin. She has shown her political smarts and willing to put all on the line to do what she feels to be right, like resign. Since then her reach has been extended to the lower 48 in an amazing way. 21/2 Million books sold, getting her message out on a national scale. Some may query, "her celebrity will not do her service, she won't be taken serious". There is a difference when the celebrity comes with a message, with convictions , with morality. Sarah Palin will not disappoint, if she becomes president, I cannot say that about any other politician I seen. She is the one I trust because she has stood firm on all her values, it is her history. I cannot say that about any one else as possible Presidential candidates. Wake up and smell the coffee republicans.
Sarah Palin is a real,down to earth person with a conservative view. I do like her values and her steadfast devotion to G_d, family and country. However, she cannot win an election. It is not because she lacks the world politican experience, it is because Americans have become enamored with celebrity, dazzle,far-reaching promises and platitudes, and the importance of celebrity endorcements (frightening isn't it). The expectations of honesty and integrity have been removed and replaced with cache. Unless the owners of this country, the citizens, begin to look beyond razzle-dazzle, we will never have representatives of the people in government. Sad but true. That being said, she may be on the ticket as VP, and if successful, she would be in the position of gaining real world experience. Afterall, Joe Biden is VP, and is your basic dunderhead. She would actually prove to be an asset. Only time and our efforts to change the direction of America back to the Constitution and values.
You've got to be kidding. On the ticket with whom, Mitt? He provided as Governor an Obama type health care in Mass. supposedly changed his convictions and values on abortion, she has remained steady that is the sign of a GREAT leader. She has already shown how she governs, with great integrity, conviction and success. I hope to God She Runs. Let the votes fall where they may. Go Sarah.
Let's take a look at North Dakota Governor John Hoeven and South Dakota U.S. Senator John Thune for 2012.