Why Rick Perry Won: Thoughts From A Texan
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010Over at the New Ledger, Ben Domenech interviews Rick Perry and muses over Perry’s success. He says:
It’s a funny thing how political predictions work. When Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison declared her candidacy for the governorship of Texas, few would’ve bet against her — popular, moderate, and established, the ex-cheerleader who loves the cameras seemed a perfect fit for the limited authority (and sizable promotional duties) of the Texas governor’s mansion.
Except at some point, when no one outside Texas was paying attention, Rick Perry got good at politics. By understanding the zeitgeist of the 2010 cycle and connecting with a surprising upsurge in populism, Perry somehow managed to make an anti-establishment case to the voters despite serving as governor for a decade — an impressive feat for any incumbent.
Perhaps a small quibble: The problem for politicians is being perceived as voting D.C. interests over voting the voters’ interest. In Kay Bailey Hutchison’s case, she is perceived as D.C.
The other problem for national Republican incumbents is being perceived as standing for big government, big spending, big regulation, and big invasion into Americans’ lives. That will be a problem for state-wide politicians, too…except for maybe California.
Rick Perry was very smart over the last year and half. He had a misstep when he talked about mandating Gardisil vaccinations for all Texas girls. After that “big government intervention” backfire, Perry got the message loud and clear: Bug out.
And so he has.
More than any other politician, he has consistently told Washington, D.C. “no” for the last two years. That has won him big points in Texas and won him envy among citizens unfortunate enough to live anywhere but Texas.
It should not also be ignored that Texas is humming along economically. By Texas standards, the economy isn’t wonderful, but it’s doing so much better than the rest of the nation, citizens are wanting to keep a good thing going. Who can blame them?
Who can blame Perry for paying attention to the feeling of his constituents? Funny thing, that. So many politicians in D.C. still want to do what they want to do, not what their constituents want.
Ben asked Governor Perry about the Tea Party movement and populism. Perry said this:
I think what you’re seeing now is the result of years of people’s frustration with government frittering away their hard earned money. It was fermenting in the mind and soul of the public for years, but I think you started to see a real response to it in mid 2008. They were really frustrated with what they saw, particularly from Republicans, when it came to handling governing.
Now this is self-evident truth, unless you’re a moderate Republican hell-bent on being Porky-the-Pig. It has been utterly astonishing how arrogant and out of touch D.C. Republicans, the ones voters count on to be the grown ups, have been.
As for the populism, Perry says:
I’m not sure I’d put it as just “populist” — I’d say it was common sense. I see regular people who started to look around and see a Congress and a president who are on a path that is very socialistic. They’re seeing things happen in Washington that are way out of their comfort zone. And because of that, they’re afraid for their country.
Again, this will be considered a genius statement only because D.C. Republicans are so out of touch, or have been. And Kay Bailey Hutchison, while living and immersed in D.C. culture, totally misjudged Texas sentiment and culture. She is not alone in her Stockholm-like syndrome. Once inside the D.C. bubble, it seems rational thought and common sense go out the window. That’s why the voters nationally are anti-D.C. anybody–Republican or Democrat.
Rick Perry sums up the national mood:
That’s easy. Any Republican candidate, any Republican activist or consultant or what have you, who is not paying attention will be so much roadkill.
The gravity of this, the weight of it, the momentum — whatever you want to call it, I’m convinced it’s unstoppable. You can join with this movement, and most people who are comfortable in the Republican Party should be very comfortable with what’s being said, or you can find another line of work.
Go read the whole article. It’s not difficult to see why people look to Texas and to Governor Perry.
Wrap-Up: Governor Rick Perry’s Blogger Summit In Austin, Texas–UPDATED With Pictures
Monday, January 25th, 2010Texas Governor Rick Perry hosted a blogger meet-up in Austin, Texas this last weekend.
Friday night, twenty of us met up at the gun range with the Governor. He showed fellow bloggers Kathleen McKinley and Robbie Cooper and me how to shoot his laser-guided, tiny Ruger LCP .380. It was a nice, light little gun, but the loooooong trigger was irritating. Roger Simon has a humorous piece about his gun trepidation that’s worth reading.
Robbie also shared his .45 with me and I got to shoot a clip from his gun. I am left-eye dominant and right hand socialized, which means that I should be left handed (and in some sports I am). This makes me a not-so-great shot. Turns out that Robbie has the same problem and he helped me correct for that. He was very helpful. (A marine would be, don’t you think?)
Kathleen brought her .22 and I shot from that gun, too. Lighter, with less kick. Nice gun. I’m looking for something to carry in my purse. I liked the power of the .45, the size of the Ruger. It’s clear that I haven’t found my favorite gun yet.
It had been years since I’d shot. It is so much fun. I will be doing that again.
The gun range owner told me that Governor Perry frequents the establishment regularly with most people not realizing the Governor is right there. He likes shooting and is a natural sportsman. I believe it. It was obvious he was having a good time. He arrived a little late to the range, but didn’t seem to want to leave.
Following the gun range, there was a reception at a local bar on 6th street in Austin. 6th Street is, for those who don’t know, the “strip” of Austin. There’s lots of bars and music joints. University of Texas is right there. Lots of youthful energy and fun in the neighborhood.
The conference itself was held at the AT&T Conference center. (Conference planners everywhere, take note. This is the best facility I’ve been in, in years.) The room was stadium-style, classroom seating with WiFi and pop-up plugs for electricity. Very nice. Do you know how many conferences are ill-equipped to serve bloggers and news people? When it’s a struggle to get power and internet access, frustration ensues. People like to work easily.
Will Franklin, Governor Perry’s New Media Coordinator, deserves credit for creating a tech-savvy environment for the bloggers. Will hosted the event and introduced the panel moderators. Pictures from Governor Perry’s photographer here.
Panel One: Turning Ideas Into Action moderated by Ryan Gravatt and hosted by Jim Eustace and Patrick Ruffini. Most of us know Patrick from his blogging and his work on campaigns. He talked about amplifying messages. Jim Eustace I had never met or heard before. He encouraged blogging activists to get better about analyzing their metrics, etc. Some people might have been snoozing about this topic, but I was eating it up. Bloggers fall into two categories–idea people who use tech and tech people who put forth ideas. I’m the former–an admitted “techtard” and their advice was excellent. I wanted them to keep talking. The talk ended much too soon.
Panel Two: Keeping Conservative Momentum moderated by Ben Domenech and hosted by Matt Lewis and Me. Ben I hadn’t met before–seen his name everywhere, linked his work, etc. What a great guy…and his voice, wow! Turns out that he has a podcast over at Breitbart, too. Anyway, Ben was the best moderator I have ever seen in action. Lucky me! He moderated my panel. Basically Matt and I talked about transforming the Tea Party energy and anger into action. It’s happening. We also talked about the genesis of some of the current messaging problems in the GOP. We also talked about the D.C. culture and how it’s difficult to adhere to conservative values for politicians, thinkers and writers alike. It’s a constant fight.
Panel Three: Growing Influence moderated by Brad Jackson and hosted by Roger Simon and Andrew Breitbart. Roger Simon and Andrew Breitbart agreed about one thing: making money in this business is hard. Ad revenue is down among all media, including new media. Breitbart made many provocative statements. To sum up: He wants to destroy the Mainstream Media. After hearing him recount the media’s treatment of Linda Trip regarding Bill Clinton, I want them destroyed, too. He said,”The media turned a predator (Clinton) into a victim and destroyed a common citizen, Linda Tripp.” Indeed.
There was a break, we were provided boxed lunches (pesto chicken was my choice, if you must know) and went back in to the conference where Governor Perry gave a short spiel about the success of Texas and why he’s hoping to be re-elected. “It’s simple,” he said. And outlined his four pillars of good governance: Low taxes, reasonable regulations, constrained lawsuit environment (torte laws), and an educated workforce. The Governor just rejected Federal education money because he didn’t want the strings attached. He did the same with the Stimulus bill. Turns out to be a wise decision.
Governor Perry introduced Andrew again. Andrew doesn’t do prepared speeches, he said. Well, he gave a good one nonetheless. Link to Breitbart interview at event here.
The operative word was “Courage”. He talked about the courage to take risks in this business. He related how in Hollywood, there is a bubble, that it’s very social and people outside of the accepted belief system are ostracized. At one party he was surrounded by 40 Obama supporters who were yelling at him while his wife cried to the side.
Andrew shared the story of liberals who took risks to expose their own and how they received death threats. He spoke of shepherding the ACORN story because of how the media destroys those who oppose liberal ideology. He painted a stark picture. The speech was rousing.
It seemed fitting that the home of the Alamo was the home for a rallying call to bloggers and activists to fight and fight with courage.
The Conference was one of the best for meeting fellow citizen journalists, activists, and campaign operators. The panels were informative. The speeches inspired.
Ben Domenech on Twitter says that he “hope other candidates do these kind of low pressure outreach activities.” Indeed.
For those interested in hearing Governor Perry speak in Houston, he’ll be stumping with Sarah Palin here on February 7, 2010. Tickets at the link.
Also, I have video of this whole shindig, but still need to cut and edit it. Will attempt to upload this to YouTube. Wish me luck!
Note: All pictures courtesy Rick Perry’s official photographer.
Houstonians: Sheila Jackson Lee Takes A Call During Civilized Town Hall
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009No, no. They’re not elitists. Not at all.
Two Roads Republicans Should Travel By: A Rebuild The Party Meet-Up In Houston, Texas
Thursday, February 12th, 2009Two roads lead to rebuilding the Republican brand and neither road can do it alone. One road starts with the Republican National Committee and Chairman Steele’s leadership on things such as funding truly conservative candidates, withholding support from less principled leaders (hello Arlen Specter), being a more public face, changing the primary schedule so liberal states aren’t choosing the GOP’s presidential candidates, and crafting a cohesive message which Republicans can unite around. The other road starts in the hinterlands.
The hinterlands was where I spent most of last evening. Harris county is the third largest county in the United States according to someone there. It’s big. Texas is big. And, it’s Republican. It is Red, but not Red enough for my tastes. With the jobless and overtaxed hordes moving from places like California and Michigan, I fear the state will morph purple and then Blue and Texas will no longer be the freedom-loving, low-tax, high-innovation state.
To keep Texas Texas, the grass-roots effort needs to be strong. The people I met last night were motivated and intense. They will form a core on which to build. There are other groups around Houston, too, and knowing what all the parts and pieces are up to would help to reduce duplication of efforts.
There was a prevailing notion that the Republican party had betrayed them. In fact, those who had achieved local electoral success, often did so running against the Republican party. To the extent that local politicians could, they excluded the Republican party’s interference. However, the local politicians are nervous. They saw Obama’s grassroots efforts and how organized they were nationally and many politicians are turning back to the party for help. Local politicians need the cover, communication, and just the ability to get more soldiers out in the field. It’s tough for one guy, alone, to do that.
The group also agreed that every election must be contested. I would say this is important, if for no other reason than ideological. Conservative ideas need to get out there and push back against the accepted conventional liberal wisdom.
Another thing. Note to Senators, Congresspeople and the former President: Amnesty was universally reviled. I cannot find words strong enough to convey the contempt these people had for the weak showing by our leaders on this issue. With Phoenix being the #2 city IN THE WORLD for kidnappings thanks to Mexican drug cartels, I don’t think the attitude about illegal immigration is going to much change.
Finally, the grassroots needs a unifying theme and leaders to rally around. Michael Steele has given people hope and a reason to turn toward the official voice again, but people are wary. These RightRoots wanted to create an effort outside the official channels to create accountability within the official channels. I actually think this is very important. Barack Obama was helped to power by a free-wheeling grass-roots group who he could distance himself from because they were unofficial. Rather than be fearful of renegade locals, the Republican hierarchy should welcome independent efforts.
The Right Roots need funding. People need to be able to do the organizational work full-time. This issue is even more pressing considering that the Stimulus bill will send billions of taxpayer dollars to organizations like ACORN which will fund and support Democrat candidates. This kind of obscene tax money usage should terrify Republicans and it does. Along with the noises that the fairness doctrine will be imposed, in some form, on internet interaction, the mainstream media’s bias, and even software companies run by liberals disallowing conservative content, conservative activists feel like they’re fighting a tsunami of power.
Money is power. And right now, Democrats have all sorts of money. Worse, with their redistribution schemes, they’ll be taking taxpayer dollars and shoring up key Democrat constituencies. Of course, if they succeed in driving the economy into the dumper, they might not have money for long.
Republican success cannot come on the back of Democrat failure. Republicans need a clear message. They need a nice marketing strategy. They need a pithy, quotable, memorable phrases to capture the Republican stance on everything from Afghanistan to Iraq to health care to taxation to environmentalism to every topic important to Americans.
The substance is there: low taxes, freedom, individual rights (but it can’t be portrayed as “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” on participant wisely noted), low taxes, family. How those messages are portrayed and who shares the message makes a difference.
Kathleen McKinley, aka Right Wing Sparkle, attended, too. She and I drove together.
Finally, I want to end this with hope. An emerging conservative voice in Houston is being led by the Ragin’ Elephants. Chelsea Winfree wrote:
First: We need to get together, not just as people in one group, but as groups with other groups and states with other states to rebuild this party. FHCRP and Rebuild are working with Raging Elephants to find ways to capture the attention of more people locally and get that sense of unity. Here at Raging Elephants, we are already connected to many people across the country, and plan on starting Raging Elephants chapters across the nation!
Second: Teach each other about technology and resources. Attend Facebook and Twitter classes, to better understand how to connect and communicate with other republicans. Also: if you already know how to use Facebook and Twitter, start your own class!
Third: The Republican message has to be POSITIVE, we can’t continue to beat down the Democrats. We have to show why WE are a good party, and why WE are worth your vote and dedication!
We also discussed the need to outreach to both politicians and students. Politicians don’t even want to associate with the republican party! So we have to bring them back, give them a reason to be proud. As for students, we have to find out what THEY are concerned about and appeal to them. We need them! They are highly motivated and could help this party grow even faster.
The Ragin’ Elephants are a group of black conservatives. This last year has been hard on conservative blacks. These ladies and gentlemen, though, said they were ready to “come out”. It is time.
Conservative principles speak to all people. Maybe now that the hurdle of blacks in power has been jumped by Barack Obama, those who hold conservative ideals in the black and other minority communities will feel free to find the party that speaks to their belief system. That party is the Republican Party.
They may be long divergent roads, but both the hyper-local grass-roots and national official organization roads together will lead to success in the next election cycles. It’s going to take the efforts of many people. It’s going to take being more technologically savvy. It’s going to take speed. 2010 will be here in a blink. There is much work to be done.
It’s Going To Get Worse Before It Gets Better And It Ain’t Bad Yet
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Had a discussion with a liberal Texan who has not, in her adult years, experienced economic difficulty. That is, unlike me, she has not lived in an economically dying state (New York in the mid-90’s, Michigan in the late 90’s early 00’s) and finally, an economically dead state (NY and MI now). So, a few people at her place of employment have been laid off and she’s worried. She was supremely offended when I said, “It’s not bad yet and it’s going to get worse.”
Just as a citizen in Michigan and New York has a hard time fathoming how thoroughly boiled a frog he is, a Texan or Floridian has a difficult time fathoming how good he has it.
A Southern liberal also has a tough time comprehending the destruction the union mentality and heavy taxation brings to a state. Unions destroy productivity and detach performance from pay. This, ironically, interferes with individualism. As in, the individual defers to the whole and becomes less inclined to be the best he can be. His spirit is destroyed. So much so, that in absence of unions, many men (mostly men) sit and wait for salvation. They are used to the strength coming from without, not from within.
Heavy taxation does it’s own sort of damage. Businesses, bodies of people together, reach a point where the work load isn’t worth it. The companies either move or fold.
Texas has grown because states like Michigan and New York kill their business climate. And yet, a Texas liberal refused to hear the truth about taxes and unions while simultaneously lamenting lay-offs at her company. This kind of disconnect is disturbing, but revealing.
What liberals want is a guarantee. She wants no one to ever lose a job. She wants no one to ever to know economic discomfort. She wants the country to have Texas’ economy but tax and unionize like New York and Michigan. You can’t have it both ways. It won’t work, as California is now learning. The safety net, large and cushy, is its own sort of noose. Eventually it kills the golden goose. The goose dies or flies South.
The worrying thing is that if the whole nation operates like Michigan, New York and California, the economy everywhere will die. At a certain point, government money runs out. That can’t just keep printing it forever.
It’s a terrible thing when liberals get their way. The policies do the exact opposite of their intention. It’s not bad here in Texas. In fact, it’s still pretty good. Liberal policies won’t prevent disaster here. They cause them. I’m afraid not enough people know that.
My City Stinks….
Sunday, January 25th, 2009Surely There Is Something Negative To Say About My Town
No one is saying it though.
Snow In Houston On December 10th, 2008
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008Snow in Houston On December 10th, 2008
Is Al Gore in Town? Stats here. I’m watching it snow! Woot!
Abandoning Land Lines For Cell Phones–A Lesson From Ike
Sunday, September 21st, 2008Many people give up land lines in favor of cell phones. I have friends who have done just that. They’re in their twenties, though. And even though they’ve settled down with a house and a kid, they still have no land line. Well. I haven’t spoken with them about their decision since the hurricane, but Ike confirmed one thing for me: it’s good to have a land line.
Cell towers, I found out, lose power too. When that happens communications come to a screeching halt. For a couple days, the only communication came via a land line. To me, it’s just a good security back-up and important in emergencies.
Our next door neighbors got stuck because they only have digital cord-less phones. Guess what happened when the power was gone? My husband laughs at me, but I keep two boring old phones around that require no batteries for just this purpose–one for upstairs and one for downstairs. And every time we’ve lost power, we’ve used them. In this case, we could let our neighbors borrow a phone.
Conclusion: Yes to land lines. Yes to old phones. It’s just good back up.
Hurricane Ike In Pictures
Friday, September 19th, 2008It is difficult to comprehend the devastation. Even seeing the aftermath, it is so overwhelming to take it all in. Boston.com has some pictures that might help you at least get a feel for it. Amazing, really.
