See For Yourself
Peter Robinson ·
Aug 13, 2011 at 7:19pm
Rick Perry's announcement speech in full.
What think?
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Comments :
Feb '10
Re: See For Yourself
I can't believe the post has been up for more than 30 minutes with no comments. I guess everyone is busy commenting on the earlier Perry conversation.
Or maybe people are actually watching the 23-minute long video before commenting? If so, it shows that unlike me, most of the members of Ricochet think before they spout off their mouth.
Edited on Aug 13, 2011 at 7:59pmRe: See For Yourself
Hey! I just woke up. It's 6:00 a.m. And the first thing I did was come to Ricochet to see this. I'm watching it.
Dec '10
Re: See For Yourself
He's already running against Obama and not against the other Republicans. A little premature? Maybe, but definitely has an air of bravado and certitude lacking in the candidates he's waiving off as noncompetitive.
Feb '10
Re: See For Yourself
Well, it's a good strategy. It seems to be working for Romney. Sniping at other candidates usually looks bad.
Perry's not my perfect candidate by far, but I'd definitely take Perry over Romney. And over Obama-- need I even say?
May '10
Re: See For Yourself
I for one am very glad to hear that he has actually served in one of the armed services. That gives him a point of reference to understand military service, which is a huge plus for the Commander-in-chief.
Jun '10
Re: See For Yourself
The fact that Perry was once a Democrat and an Al Gore supporter gave me a lump in my throat when I first read it, but twenty-five years ago, Al Gore wasn't anything like today's Al Gore. Both men started near the center, but one turned way left and the other one went off to the right. We forget that sometimes it's the political climate that changes more than the people. Twenty-five years ago you could be a pro-life Democrat and still get your phone calls returned by other Democrats.
Edited on Aug 13, 2011 at 8:23pmFeb '10
Re: See For Yourself
In the video he hits all the typical politician notes. Slick but I'm a bit cynical.
I like how he says he'll stand up for American values instead of apologizing for them. I heard a foreigner say this about Americans: "You Americans are always very nice people, smiling and saying 'How do you do?... Have a great day!' But you Americans don't like to be messed with. If anyone does they better watch out."
I like how he talks about spending-- "Rule #1: Don't spend all the money." Texas had a pretty good rainy-day fund until the recent recession.
"America is not broken. Washington, D.C. is broken." Good line. And good luck turning it around-- you'll need boatloads of it.
Edited on Aug 13, 2011 at 8:15pmFeb '10
Re: See For Yourself
"There's a specific reason that Texas has done so well, and that's because the oil industry has done so well in the last few years, and the military has grown because of the challenges that we have had overseas," said David Axelrod. "And so he's been the beneficiary of things that he had very little to do with."
David Axelrod doesn't have a clue about Texas. He also doesn't realize he's insulting Texans (or perhaps he does but doesn't care). Texas' economy is much more diverse than just oil and the military. Houston does benefit from a lot of the oil revenue, but other big areas such as Dallas, Austin and San Antonio have thriving industries of all types, including technology.
But in a way, the idea of Perry benefiting from things that he had very little to do with directly is not that far off. The main thing is that he didn't get in the way of what Texans were already doing, unlike David Axelrod's boss.
Edited on Aug 13, 2011 at 8:26pmJul '11
Re: See For Yourself
What think? Well, if the past four years have taught us anything, it's not to read too much into speeches. Nevertheless, some impressions below. Although, given the glowing accounts from Philip Klein, I was expecting to be "wowed" a lot more than I was.
On the upside: he will be an effective salesman for conservative ideas, better than Romney as he's more genuine and better than Bachmann as he comes across as more mature (the gravitas knock on Bachmann is not without merits). He'll probably do well in debates against Obama. He turned that ridiculous "Win the Future" slogan around on the administration (which says that he'll needle Obama, a good strategy, as that really rattles him). Love the Thatcher quote. He made a clear promise to repeal Obamacare.
On the downside: very heavy on platitudes and familiar rhetoric; did he go through all of Reagan's speeches and highlight his favorite lines and mash them together? Sure sounded like it at times. His opening prayer for the fallen Navy seals struck me as gratuitous. If Obama had injected that tragedy into such an explicitly political occasion many of us would have howled in outrage.
Edited on Aug 14, 2011 at 3:51amDec '10
Re: See For Yourself
The form was a little rough with no teleprompter and all, but that was probably deliberate. If he's half the pol Texans say he is, and if I was a betting man, I would bet he sand bagged a little so he can demonstrate growth and refinement as the campaign moves forward. It doesn't matter how fast you get off the line if your top speed is 20.
Re: See For Yourself
I liked it. Seems to me the theme was, "No Red States and no Blue States? Hell yes, there are, and the Red States just declared a culture war and we mean to win."
We'll see how he does.
Feb '10
Re: See For Yourself
Get ready for tons of articles in the national news about how horrible it really is in Texas despite the superficial appearances.
All you need to do is visit.
I was recently in Chicago, Obama's political origins. By comparison to Texas, the whole place (other than downtown, which is the center of power) looked like it needed serious work. And recently another big company decided to pull out because of the hostile tax and regulatory environment. I don't mean to insult Chicagoans, but the place is decaying.
I took a toll road, the uncompleted Skyway, which also needs repair, and paid $1.50 at the first booth. Just a few miles down the road, I had to pay another $3.50! For a Texan that was just mind-boggling. Our toll roads are wide, look new, and only cost $0.75-- and you go a lot farther between booths.
I made a comment about it to the toll booth operator. "I paid $1.50 just a few miles back!" She said, "Well that was there, and you're here now." The tone was as if to suggest, "who is this, some rube from Texas?"
Edited on Aug 13, 2011 at 8:36pmRe: See For Yourself
Think we need a little time and a little perspective: is Perry wonderful, or is his main attraction that he's not Romney. Remember, we have a pattern of running governors up the flag pole in this race.
Republicans have three debates scheduled in September -- Reagan Library, Tea Party Express in Tampa, Florida GOP in Orlando. This gives Perry three weeks to work the trail, find his groove and his comfort zone, fine-tune his message, prepare for hand-to-hand combat.
Two other things I'm doing if I'm Perry: raise a ton of money fast, assuming the race goes beyond Super Tuesday; start trying to get fellow guvs' endorsements asap to create impression of momentum, being the definitive non-Washington guy.
May force Romney to enter the Sept. 24 P5 Straw Poll in Florida -- something he wanted to avoid, given what you saw in Ames today.
Edited on Aug 13, 2011 at 8:39pmApr '11
Re: See For Yourself
Yes. This.
Mar '11
Re: See For Yourself
BAS,the medical industry is Houston's biggest employer, not oil, though we have a lot of oil money floating around. Obamacare is going to dessimate the research facilities that are such an important part of my city.
Jun '10
Re: See For Yourself
Ultimately the question to ask is does he connect with the electorate, and did this speech help him do it. On listening to the speech, I purposely didn't watch his gestures, it presented a clear path out of the economic mess the country is in while at the same time demonstrating that he, as governor of Texas, had faced similar problems—stress on experience. That's why he's running against Obama, to run against Romney would not distinguish him enough—they were both governors. I may be wrong on this, but electorates vote vision. The leader that shows voters a clear path fares better than the muddled senator blathering about hope and change—that Obama won in 08 is attributable to a confluence of circumstances and not deft political execution.
May '10
Re: See For Yourself
I'm more impressed than I thought I'd be! If Obama did a good job of appropriating the sing-songy black preacher schtick, than Perry has done just as good with the country preacher one, though Perry comes across as more sincere. I'd like to see how he debates. The greatest concern I have is that would voters who'd consider voting Republican vote for another Texan? I was born in the Texas panhandle, so the accent is familiar and appealing to me, but not for everyone. It may be superficial, but it would be so easy to paint him as George W. Bush 2.0. I'm sure the oppositional researchers will have a field day with him. I wish his education was more substantial. Texas A & M? Animal Science? Seriously!? But he will energize a currently deflated Republican presidential race. Let's see how he does.
Feb '10
Re: See For Yourself
Go to rickperry.org and find out more. Here's one section:
"Government does not create jobs, the private sector creates jobs. What government can do is create an environment that allows the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish. An environment where small business owners feel they have a fair chance to grow their company without interference.
"In June of 2011, 32,000 net new jobs were created in Texas–more than any of the other states. From June 2010 to June 2011, Texas led all other states by far, adding 220,000 net new jobs."
Point 1: he's still not taking direct credit for creating Texas jobs, but only for creating a good environment for them. That's a good sign.
Point 2: he's using "net new jobs" as the metric, not "jobs saved or created" (the ultimate in weasel-speak). To be sure, the period (June 2010 to June 2011) was probably cherry-picked to show the best numbers. But a metric based on "jobs saved or created" is not much better than a made-up number. How do you define a "saved" job, and what government department is in charge of measuring the alternate parallel universe in which the job was not saved?
Edited on Aug 13, 2011 at 9:44pmDec '10
Re: See For Yourself
Busy System Admin:
Texas' economy is much more diverse than just oil and the military. Houston does benefit from a lot of the oil revenue, but other big areas such as Dallas, Austin and San Antonio have thriving industries of all types, including technology.
Aug 13 at 8:20pm
Here, Here! I live in Colorado, a state that has benefited immensely from the administrations "green jobs" initiatives, from a national research center to wind mill manufacturers. We are a destination location for college grads from across the country and a center for high tech, but we are still just hanging on, in part because we are fighting the administration, and in part because we are complicit with it.
Not all states with vast natural resources turn it into a booming economies, and Colorado is proof. As a state, we are fighting against those who would develop our petroleum reserves. It takes more than dumb luck to turn oil into jobs.
Edited on Aug 13, 2011 at 10:00pmFeb '10
Re: See For Yourself
On the contrary, I think that's an actual and a political good thing.
An actual good thing because he's got a background in a practical, real-world, physical industry. We've been declining in such areas, ignoring the fundamentals. That's why we have Americans unwilling to pick lettuce, and our manufacturing is going overseas.
A political good thing because it will appeal to the "common man" more than some Ivy-League fancy-schmancy degree would.