I find it staggering in 2011 that this appeals to some large segment of people.
Perry is living a Texas hyperbole. It will get attention … but we already tried the cowboy President. It brought us a pair of wars and a recession. The slogan, “Like George W. Bush—but more so” is not going to win any elections.
Perry currently ties Obama. Unlike Obama he has never lost an election. Perry is a seasoned campaigner, is ruthlessly cynical and commands a broad base of support. His personal story is compelling for much of the American electorate. His model of state governing is the desired future for the US government by all the CEO’s I’ve talked to (this is no where near a cross section). His system of patronage puts Huey Long to shame.
We elected Bush twice, Perry is actually mean though.
Living in Texas gives me a little insight on the Perry machine and I can say that Perry has a knack for drawing attention. Now I haven’t voted for this man in two Texas Governor elections but he has the ability to draw a crowd. As we have all seen he is a very polarizing individual, his personal story resonates with a lot of American’s, but his policy is what pushes people to a love ‘em or hate ‘em attitude.
Perry can run a pretty good state level campaign, but he also runs as a republican in a super-red state and his opponents are always lackluster both opposing republicans and democrats. Running in Texas this guy has been a shoe in but on the national level he will have to fight to win the republican nomination.
He rallies behind how well the Texas economy has done during the recession but the fact that the state is looking at billion dollar budget short-falls, massive layoffs and cuts that affect millions of residents and some of the most regressive tax structures in the union well lets just say he’ll have some ‘splainin to do when the primary nominations get closer.
