By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
The Paz Files
AUSTIN, Texas - Forget for a moment the fact that Rick Perry doesn't even have his own state in his pocket. Forget the fact that his claim to having forged a great economy in Texas is a mirage. And forget the fact that all those Bush Republicans hate him, and will not be endorsing him. Forget those negatives Perry has on his ledger.
The biggest problem for Republican voters considering Perry for the party's 2012 presidential nomination will be his stance - or lack of - on immigration. The 61-year-old Perry has largely damned Washington, D.C. on the issue, but done nothing about it in his own state, a neighbor of Mexico along the nation's southern boundary.
Perry is declaring his candidacy for president in South Carolina, some 1,000 miles from Texas, where his gloss is shiny and his background not exactly known. It will be, sooner than he thinks. Perry may be the next darling of the rudderless GOP, but he's yet to face the national cameras and the national press. The boy simply has too many negatives.
At last check, there were 1.6 million undocumented immigrants in the Lone Star State, up from 1.4 million in 2010. Rick Perry may wish to leave that issue in his backpocket, but state economists who partially back his claim to a booming economy are noting that those immigrants he rails against at every Tea Party opportunity have contributed to that success, adding as much as $17.7 billion a year to the state gross product and enjoying such benefits as in-state tuition at public universities.
"Gov. Perry is very eager to appear tough on illegal immigration, but upon closer inspection he's part of the problem," William Gheen, who runs the North Carolina-based political action committee Americans for Legal Immigration, told he Associated Press.
The group, added Gheen, plans to spread the word to conservative groups. What the Far Right does with Perry's record is anybody's guess. It may just be that the lack of viable candidates forces the GOP into selecting a candidate somewhat sympathetic to the immigrant life. Perry is on record as saying Texas would not pass a law such as the one Arizona went after last year, one that would have directly targeted undocumented immigrants. And his dealings with Hispanic law enforcement and politicians along the Mexican border in South Texas carry all the marks of a social Democrat, which Perry was until Bush lieutenant Karl Rove persuaded him to switch parties and join the Republican fold.
Oddly, Rove led outgoing U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson's campaign against Perry in 2010, a harsh battle that further frayed Perry's connections to that wing of the party. Former President George W. Bush backed Hutchinson and is said to be cold to the idea of endorsing Perry. How that plays out in the coming months will likely define Perry's longshot bid. He does not poll well against Democratic President Barack Obama and is currently second to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the party contest.
Still, Perry has been lucky all throughout his political career, taking a lowly 2.1 grade point average out of college and moving into the governor's mansion. His rise is not unlike that of another college under-achiever: Sarah Palin, who enrolled in five colleges before ascending to the governorship of Alaska, where she promptly resigned after helping U.S. Senator John McCain lose the 2008 election to Obama.
Perry may surprise, but don't bet on it.
It's hard to picture him staying up with the president in a national debate on the pressing issues of the economy (he worked up to a D in that class at Texas A&M), or on issues to do with the Middle East, or on illegal immigration.
He absolutely has no experience in any of that...
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9 comments:
Rick Perry has a degree in animal sicence. The guy is a dummy, I don't know why people think he is great.
At the moment there are more illegals than local in the Valley, they are all working with stolen identities.
My Boss tells me, some lady with the name of Gledy's Simmons applied at the meat markent, but couldn't spell her name.
Where is the immigration enforcement Perry talks about, it is all in his mind.
My boss said, it was Gladies Martin not Simmons as she had written on the application.
And where have you heard anyone with the name of Denver, from the state of Chiapas Mexico. Wake Perry, you are dreaming.
Rick Perry's shine now is largely due to the awful, inept Republican field. He is playing the role of "none of the above." Once the media examine his record and just how scary he is (he is far more ideologically rigid and doctrinaire than Bush, if you can believe it), he will lose a lot of that luster. Plus, although he may excite the Republican base, I don't see how he can possibly attract the moderates and independents that he will need to unseat a sitting president.
ALL:...Good, thoughtful comments. My feelings is that Rick Perry's aura will fade with investigation of his political record. He is a Republican only because he saw that as a way to win office. He is a conniving politician who will do whatever it takes to win. There is nothing in that suit of his, not for the country. He is where he is and where he should stay... - Editor
Texas Monthly has some good articles on Mr. Perry. No vale sebo el senor.
Perry is on the wrong end of history. Acceptance of GLBT folks is growing all across the country. Church attendance is way down. His vaunted job creation stats show most of those jobs are minimum wage. He keeps praying for rain and God ignores him. The last Texas prez was disastrous. We don't need a rerun.
Rick Perry's strengths: the backing of the oil and gas industry and the Confederacy.
Just another pretty face with no brains behind it. I can see where the people behind the scenes pulling the strings would like someone like Perry because they could run him just like Cheney ran Bush. Maybe he could have Palin as vice-president and then we'd have two idiots up there and nobody in charge. Scary thought indeed but it makes it that much more likely that President Obama would be re-elected by a landslide.
Rick Perry had nothing to do with the oil industry. He just likes to brag.
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