Some analysts say signs point to Perry presidential bid

Must admit that it doesn't take rocket science to figure that out. We think Larry Sabato who comments in this article is out of touch with the people in a large portion of the Country with his comments about not wanting another Texan and Perry being to the right of most people in the Country.  Guess Sabato never got the message that this country is center right and the issues that make a lot of Americans support Rick are his conservative principles in believing in State's Rights.  That resonates with a lot of people who are tired of the Federal Government getting involved in our every day lives. We would like to know what is wrong with being from Texas or being conservative?  Large state, complex problems, and an economy that is booming under the leadership of Governor Perry.  He brings up President Bush as some kind of an anchor around Rick Perry which shows his lack of understanding of Texas politics.

In 2010 Kay Bailey Hutchinson was supported by former President GHW Bush, former Secretary of State Jim Baker, and their group against Perry.  They are Romney people for the most part and didn't want Perry having a chance to run in the GOP primary IMHO.  President GW Bush stayed out of the primary so knowing those facts, how could that hurt Rick Perry who is his own person.  The answer is that it won't and after 2 1/2 years of Obama, President Bush no longer is the menace of even some of the Democrats.  Anyone who wouldn't  vote for Rick Perry because he is from Texas wouldn't vote for him anyway.

What is interesting is the Lincoln Dinner of the New York Republican County Committee in Manhattan in NYC which Trump dropped out as the speaker.  After that, they asked Perry to be their speaker and all of sudden the tickets were a hot commodity which should tell you all you need to know.  This is New York not exactly the hotbed of conservatives.  Have to wonder if one Rudy Giuliani put a suggestion in their ear to ask Perry.  Rick Perry supported Rudy early in the Presidential race in 2008 even going into Florida to campaign for him.  We would bet money that Rudy would love to see Rick run for President this time -- you can bet that Rudy and law firm of Bracewell and Giuliani will be fully on board for Perry.  Pat Oxford keeping his powder dry says a lot.

Rumors are flying everywhere that everything is in place to run now with Rob Johnson back in Austin.  There is no way he and others would stay with Newt no matter if it was a smooth running campaign if Perry decided to get in the race.  Johnson would have been headed back to Texas as fast as he could get there once Perry decided to run.  Rick Perry getting in the race would be a game changer.  He is energetic, conservative, and not many can get a room on their feet applauding like Perry can.

Some analysts say signs point to Perry presidential bid 

By Maria Recio
mrecio@mcclatchydc.com 

WASHINGTON -- Gov. Rick Perry's strategy of sitting back and waiting to be asked to run for president seems to be paying off.

When presidential aspirant Donald Trump flamed out, Perry was the one asked to substitute as keynote speaker at next week's annual Lincoln Dinner of the New York Republican County Committee in Manhattan. And this week, some of Perry's former top aides abandoned the candidacy of Newt Gingrich, creating a buzz. 

"An observer of the Texas political scene, watching what he's doing, you would have to say he's running," said Pat Oxford, chairman of the Houston-based Bracewell & Giuliani law firm.

Perry's invitation to be the marquee speaker Tuesday at the high-profile fundraiser at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the nation's biggest media market underscores the curiosity that Republican conservatives have about the Texas governor. "When Perry was announced, there was a lot more interest," said Marcus Cederqvist, executive director of the New York Republican County Committee. Ticket sales soared when Trump's replacement was announced, he said. "People were very excited about it."

"Gov. Perry is the perfect example that we in New York should be looking to," committee Chairman Daniel Isaacs said in a statement. "At a time when New York ranks at or near the bottom among states in every important metric, Texas is leading the way. By focusing on keeping taxes low and fostering a fair legal and regulatory environment, Gov. Perry has helped Texas attract business and residents at a time when New York has been hemorrhaging both."

Isaacs said he has organized a "meet and greet" lunch for Perry with 30 of Manhattan's top financiers and power brokers, after which the Texan will make several media appearances before the dinner speech.
When asked last month whether he intends to run, Perry said, "I'm going to think about it."

What other people are thinking about it took on new energy with Thursday's mass exodus of Gingrich's campaign workers, including longtime Perry advisers David Carney and Rob Johnson.
"All the signs point to" Perry's running, said Austin political consultant Bill Miller, who advises members of both parties. "It sure adds up to a guy who's going to be a candidate."

But Perry spokesman Mark Miner sustained the "sit back" strategy, saying: "Nothing's changed. Of course he's going to think about it. Right now, he's focused on the legislative session."

The state Legislature is completing unfinished business in a special session that could run through the end of June.

In an e-mail, Carney told the Star-Telegram that the Gingrich exodus "has no bearing on the thinking of the governor."

Besides the New York trip and Perry's consultants being "back in the fold," as Miller puts it, the governor's unexpected call for a day of "prayer and fasting" in Houston in August also fueled speculation of a White House run.

"He'd certainly be a good candidate," Fort Worth power broker and lawyer Dee Kelly said. "If they don't get one candidate to split the conservative vote, he can point to his track record creating jobs in Texas. In this economy right now, he's got credentials."

Texas has led the nation in job creation for 10 years, according to federal data. From February 2010 to February 2011, 254,000 jobs were created. California was in second place with 194,000.

Not all observers think Perry will try to follow his predecessor as governor, George W. Bush, to Washington. 

Larry Sabato, a presidential expert at the University of Virginia, thinks that despite all the signals, Perry is "having fun with it."

"I'd be surprised if he runs," Sabato said. "He's to the right of the country. I don't think there's any doubt about that."

And the country is not willing, he said, to go with another Texan so soon after Bush, especially one who is "right of Bush" and who has suggested that the Lone Star State consider seceding from the Union. 

"Being from Texas hurts anyone running," Sabato said, "but Rick Perry in particular."

For his part, Houston attorney Oxford is keeping his powder dry while waiting to see whether a New Yorker might make a presidential run -- his law partner, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Looking at the field so far, Oxford said, "There's no Republican candidate who has caught any kind of supportive breeze."

In 2008, Perry, notably, supported Giuliani for president.

Maria Recio is the Star-Telegram's Washington bureau chief. 202-383-6103

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/10/3144098/some-analysts-say-signs-point.html#ixzz1P4b91lUb

As most of you who read this blog probably can tell, I have not be a huge supporter of any of the current crop of Republican candidates because frankly not sure they could beat Obama and unfortunately not the only who feels that way.  None of them make this conservative from the Sooner State want to support their campaign more than voting for them as being better than Obama.  That said, I am huge supporter of Texas A&M graduate Rick Perry and have been since the first time I had the privilege of hearing him speak and then voting for him for Agriculture Commissioner in 1990 after we had been transferred to Kelly AFB that summer.  He was the one bright spot for Republicans in an otherwise dismal election.  Even after the transfer to Oklahoma, continued to support Perry and his campaigns.  Rick Perry is conservative, an Eagle Scout, former Air Force Pilot, and a lot more experience then any other candidate with being Governor of Texas since January 2001.  Perry knows what it is like to have the Federal Government at your doorstep with regulations from the EPA, lack of support out of the Administration to fight the border problem, and the Feds stepping on State's rights for starters.

Texas economy is flourishing and you can it to the bank that oil and gas will be solidly behind Rick Perry as America needs to drill more to make our country more self-sufficient for foreign oil.  The blocking of permits for Gulf Oil Drilling will stop the day Rick Perry becomes President.  Obama has sought to put TX, OK, LA and other oil and gas producing states on their backs first with regulations and then his putting a moratorium on Gulf Oil Drilling which is still semi in place today as it almost takes an act of Congress to get a permit to drill.  Then we have the lizard problem in the Permian Basin that the EPA is trying to use to stop new oil drilling to protect the lizard.  That means the EPA doesn't want the San Antonio area which gets their water from Edwards Aquifer to have water to drink so the salamander and now a beetle they found can flourish or the Permian Basin to keep drilling in order save a lizard?  The problems with the EPA are legendary in this part of the Country.  It is like 'stop the insanity of the EPA!'

Would say that Rick Perry running would be a nightmare for Obama because Perry doesn't back down as all of us have witnessed in the past few years.  We need a candidate with a backbone who understands what it takes to get the economy moving again and it certainly isn't new regulations or finding a new species to protect at the expense of oil and gas drilling.  Rick Perry's experience as Ag Commissioner, Lt Governor, and now Governor gives him experience others don't have.  No one can question his Air Force time as he flew C-130's overseas.  That issue is off the table in case Dan Rather is wondering.

Then we have the people saying he was a Democrat before running for Ag Commissioner.  If anyone uses that against him, then they don't understand Texas or the South where to get elected at one time you pretty much had to be a Democrat.  He grew up in a heavy Democrat area, but he chose to become a Republican and run for statewide office in a year that Republicans were not doing well but he won.   In Texas there were a lot of Democrat Conservatives including Cong Ralph Hall who after all those years as a Texas Democrat switched to Republican when President GW Bush was in office.  I respected Hall as a Democrat conservative and I respect today because his principles are the same -- it is the Democrat Party who has been lunging left for years and left those Southern Conservative Democrats without a party.  I have seen it in my own area.  I prefer to say "they finally saw the light."