(Great piece from Democratic political consultant and former DNC Western States Political Director Ed Espinoza. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
For President: Governor Contradiction
There's an old saying, "never let the facts get in the way of a good story." And perhaps no other place is as famous for tall tales as the state of Texas. Rick Perry has carefully crafted a narrative telling his story with the swagger we've come to expect from a Texas Governor. And if the details don't always make sense, well then - that's just your problem!
Today Rick Perry declares his candidacy for President. This comes one year after he said he was not thinking about running for President. But it's more amusing that it comes two years after he suggested Texas should secede from the union. The man who was so fed up with this country now wants to run it.
Now, the statement came in the run-up to his 2010 re-election campaign, a time when Gov. Perry was railing against the largess of government and the endless supply of career government workers. Though, we might actually call it his re-re-election campaign, as he is in the midst of serving an unprecedented third term, which doesn't even include the ½ term he served when finishing out the term of George W. Bush. It's a lot of work fighting back all of that government ya know.
But the man from Paint Creek was born to run. He runs for office and wins. He runs for fitness - and wins. It was reported last year that Perry went for a run and shot a coyote that was about to eat his dog. Because apparently a good sportsman needs to take his pistol with him when he goes jogging. Not bad for a guy who got a "C" in physical education at Texas A&M.
In the coming months, we are more likely to hear about something folks here call the "Texas Miracle."
Some describe the Texas Miracle as a low-tax and low-regulatory economic climate that spurred job growth - primarily from high tech companies moving to the state. Even though population growth has outpaced that figure and the state unemployment rate is just one point lower than the national average.
Others describe the Texas Miracle as amazement that the state is still standing after a $27 billion budget deficit, among the worst in the nation. Or with the worst high school graduation rate in America, it'd be a miracle if any of the residents here could actually get some of those high tech jobs.
We'll hear about how Texas was successful in tackling air pollution, but not about the cities that had to sue the state for lying about the quality of the air. We'll hear about Perry the populist, but not about his inference that the people shouldn't elect US Senators. We'll hear how Perry rallied against federal stimulus funds for Texas in 2009, but not about his private acceptance of the funds to balance the state budget that year. And we'll undoubtedly hear about the evils of Obamacare, but not about how Texans have the worst access to healthcare in the nation.
But Rick Perry won't let a bunch of unfortunate contradictions ruin a good narrative.
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