Catching up on news from last week, Texas Governor Rick Perry spoke at a lunch hosted by Americans for Prosperity and headlined the Polk County GOP’s fall dinner in Des Moines on November 7. O.Kay Henderson posted the full audio from Perry’s evening speech at Radio Iowa. After the jump I’ve posted some highlights from his remarks as well as an interview Perry gave the Des Moines Register and comments he made to Iowa reporters.
The Texas governor is trying to reinvent himself as a guy focused on economic policy and pragmatic problem-solving. I tend to believe in the adage, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” Perry blew his big opening in the late summer of 2011, and I expect Iowa Republican caucus-goers to be more interested in other governors, such as Scott Walker of Wisconsin or Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. That said, Republicans have on several occasions nominated a candidate during his second run for the presidency, and I think governors tend to be more appealing to GOP primary voters than current members of Congress. Furthermore, several candidates will be fighting over the “uncompromising conservative” niche, so Perry might as well distinguish himself by rejecting purity tests and saying, “I’d rather have a half a loaf than no loaf.”
Any comments on Perry’s prospects in the 2016 Iowa caucuses or the presidential primaries are welcome in this thread.
Speaking to journalists after his private lunch with business leaders (organized by Americans for Prosperity), Perry said it was “premature” to talk about another presidential campaign.
“It’s too early for me to be making any decisions about 2016; I’ve still got 14 months of governing in Texas.” […]
Perry steered the conversation about his potential presidential ambitions to his tour, which, he said, was about explaining the benefits of what he called “red state economic policies.” Those policies, Perry said, include a flat tax and repatriating offshore corporate profits.
“I’m really intrigued with this concept of having a civil discussion across this country with the citizens of this country, with the governors and legislators for that matter, about this blue state versus red state concept,” Perry said.
Who believes Perry isn’t planning another presidential race? Look at his Iowa itinerary:
While in Iowa today and Friday, he’s meeting with political and business leaders, speaking at a Polk County GOP fundraiser, touring a gun parts supplier, attending an NRA luncheon, publicly weighing in on Florida’s governor’s race, and doing a handful of sit-down interviews with Iowa, Texas and national reporters.
Perry is stepping down as governor at the end of 2014 and will have plenty of free time to campaign in Iowa and other states with early presidential contests. Some Republicans will certainly welcome the message he conveyed during an interview with the Des Moines Register.
Asked about the debate du jour on the rift between the tea party wing of the GOP and center-right, establishment-leaning Republicans, Perry answered: “This isn’t a purity test.”
“I think that most Republicans do fall into the camp of, ‘Listen, if you don’t win, you can’t govern.’ It doesn’t make any difference if you’re here or over here in the spectrum. I’m a big believer in that. Let’s win the elections.”
But which kind of Republican might be more successful winning the presidency in 2016? A tea partier or someone closer to the center?
“I don’t think any of them have a better chance of winning by themselves,” Perry said. “I think it takes all of them working together. I’d rather have a half a loaf than no loaf. And so, finding our middle ground – listen, I’m a big believer that most Republicans, most conservatives don’t think that the answers are going to be found in Washington, D.C.”
The next president should be focused on returning power over economic and social issues to the states, he said.
“I don’t think somebody’s going stand up and say, ‘Send me to Washington, D.C. and I’ll fix everything,’ unless fixing everything means we’re going to try to make Washington as inconsequential as we can in your life. Let your governor and your legislators work things out, whether they’re economic issues or whether they’re social policy issues.”
He kept it short in his evening speech at the Polk County GOP dinner.
“The people in this room, those of you with this new and renewed sense of purpose in this country can lead America back to greatness again,” Perry said. “I stand ready to work with you to create that.” […]
“You know it’s not just that the political parties disagree, but it’s that they’re so disagreeable, sowing not only discord but distrust. Our leaders have forgotten how to govern and, believe me, I know a few things about forgettin,'” Perry said, a reference to his “oops” moment during one of the 2012 candidate debates that drew laughter and applause from tonight’s crowd.
Perry touted the work of “red state” governors like himself and attacked the “nanny state” solutions he said Democrats prefer.
“We’re losing the country we love to a government that is too big, too arrogant, too controlling of our everyday lives and it is incumbent on us – to the men and women in this room – to take our country back,” Perry said.
He also scored some easy points by attacking President Barack Obama and the 2010 health care reform law.
From this blog post by Jennifer Jacobs, I learned that Perry and I have one thing in common: we are both fans of The Who. But this excerpt from the interview is more relevant to his future political prospects:
Q. Name one of the best intellectual achievement or academic feats that you’ve achieved in your lifetime?
A. “The most intellectually challenging thing I ever did was a year’s worth of really intense focus academically was in pilot training. It was the most intensive year of my life. I realized I had to really buckle down. I kind of went through college without a great deal of focus on my studies.”
Q. Can you describe yourself in three words?
A. “Father, soldier, statesman.”