so this jerkdick signs the sonogram law, but vetoes a ban on texting while driving because it micromanages the behavior of adults? why can't I go buy an 8th from a licensed store, go play some blackjack, have a hooker swing by the house or drink and drive if we don't want the government to micromanage my behavior?
Man, you don't know the half of it. The Lege is packed this session with freshman members who have no idea what they're doing, elected, in an amazing number of cases, by voters who knew next to nothing about them when pulling the lever, only that they had GOP next to their names. A large part of the legislative session has been about attempting to work around these idiots, many of them radical fundamentalists/tea party lunatics (not the baffled tea party "members" who keep thinking they aren't tools of the GOP). And who is their cheerleader? The Aggie cheerleader! Governor Good Hair. We have a weak Lt. Governor, which is traditionally and constitutionally the power in the Lege, so no counterweight to Perry's madness, and a Republican super majority, with those of deep experience, seniority, and a sense of decency (I can assure you that many of those folks fit that description, despite also being deeply conservative on certain issues, yet willing to compromise to get things done for the good of the state) frantically attempting to keep the lid on the radical agenda the new members advocate, a radical agenda with the gleeful support of Tricky Rick, who has his OWN agenda. Only a couple of years ago, the balance between the two major parties was close to even. Not that long ago, Perry was re-elected with much less than 40% of the vote. The next election saw a huge shift towards both Perry and the cats I mentioned, the ones the voters knew little about. Why? Why the sudden shift? Why did so many voters stay home? Why did so many that did vote, vote for GOP candidates with a radical agenda? And why did several of those other Republican members, the ones with seniority, experience, and decency, either lose their primaries, or be so frightened by nearly losing that they've sat back and shut up, not willing to fight the absurd agenda pushed by the Noobs and their champion, Tricky Rick? Threats. Threats by the radical money people in Texas (and outside the state) to fund their opponents in the primaries, often doing just that to shove aside a member liked by the voters in his or her district by showering the district with negative ads supporting the Crazies in their own party. And one other thing. The election of a Black Democratic President.
I was really surprised at how easily he dismissed Kay Bailey -- I think he beat her worse than Bill White.
Kay Bailey ran a terrible campaign. That, and she looked tired. Tired and old, without the "cheerleader" looks she used to have, which Perry has hung on to.
Romney and Perry are by far the best candidates the republicans have this election cycle. Look for Mitt and Rick (vp) to run against Obama/ Biden in 2012.
I met Perry at the Lincoln Reagan dinner last year.. When I talked to him it was obvious everything he says is written before hand, it was like talking to a cassette tape. I lost all respect for him because I didn't feel he was capable to think for himself.
He would be worst then Bush. He knew that TX budget situation was bad when he was running for re-election but he was able to hide those things. He is not very smart and I am not in favor of his approach/ideology in solving problems.
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Mitt has a serious authenticity problem and that's the kind of problem that counts. If he is the nominee he will be slaughtered if for no other reason than the fact that Obama is so incredibly more likable than he is. This is an extraordinarily weak GOP field (Pawlenty? Bachman? Not a chance) with a relatively weak and beatable incumbent. There will be more entries to the race. If Huntsman can't take off (and he's rather moderate to succeed in a GOP primary), Perry could conceivably become the frontrunner over night. For all his problems, and every candidate has some, I almost think he'd be a fool not to run. He certainly has the best shot among the other possible late entries (Palin, Giuliani, etc.) at getting the nomination if not the presidency. And, since the GOP generally rewards those that come close but lose (as opposed to the Dems, where you really only get one chance), even if he lost the general if he could become the nominee he would almost certainly be well poised for 2016. I'll admit this here too, as a steadfast Obama supporter: the only candidates from the GOP side that instill any fear in me at all are Perry and Huntsman. Every other GOP prospect is D.O.A.
I think Huntsman is easily their strongest candidate, but he has a visibility and moderation problem in the primary (neither of these hurt him in a general election). Romney is feasible I think, though I agree he has issues. Both have a legit shot to beat Obama under relatively ordinary circumstances. I think the Perry's of the world scare me more, though - because they are idiotic, but if we do go into a double dip or even if the economy just stagnates, I think any GOPer outside of the craziest of the crazies can win. At that point, the election becomes simply about any type of change, and it doesn't matter nearly as much who the change is. And realistically, I think the chance of a stagnation is very much there. In that scenario, I'd much rather have Huntsman as the opponent than Perry or Bachman or whatever other lunatic is out there.
He's The Stepford Candidate, his message massaged, his script laid out before him, the money men in the background, pulling his strings. Texas will spend decades recovering from this guy after he's gone.
Huntsman is a McCain/Dole clone, the kind of candidate Democrats love, a total pushover that wants the approval of the media. Supported TARP and the stimulus and an insurance mandate. Doesn't matter who the GOP nominee is, the bottom is going to drop out of the economy and Obama will not be able to get above 40%, basically Dukakis 2.0. There is no reason for the economy to improve and Obama doesn't want to enact any new policy the GOP would go along with (tax/spending cuts). Plus Dodd/Frank and ACA are now being written by the regulators and nobody knows what to expect. No one knows if QE3 is coming, what will happen with interest rates. The EPA and NLRB are running wild shutting businesses down. Paralysis and stagnation.
