Texas governor tops Republican polls
With the first state primary elections and caucuses still months away, the brash Perry has drawn level with or passed urbane Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and businessman, in less than three weeks since announcing his candidacy.
Romney had been cruising atop the list of Republican hopefuls when his stiffest competition came from congresswoman Michelle Bachmann.
Bachmann, leader of the small-government anti-tax tea party caucus of House of Representatives Republicans, won the important Iowa Straw Poll on August 13, but Perry was already stealing her message by announcing his candidacy the same day in a speech to a conservative group in South Carolina.
Since then he has eclipsed Bachmann and appears to be in a two-horse race with Romney.
Romney began a counter-offensive yesterday in Perry’s home state, telling the Veterans of Foreign Wars meeting in San Antonio that his vision for putting the US back on a steady course was, by definition, far superior to that of “career politicians”.
That was an attempt to differentiate himself from Perry, who has been Texas governor since 2000. Before that, Perry had served as lieutenant governor, agricultural commissioner and a state representative for a total of 27 years on the state payroll.
“I am a conservative businessman. I spent most of my life outside of politics, dealing with real problems in the real economy,” Romney said. “Career politicians got us into this mess and they simply don’t know how to get us out.”
In his speech, Romney pointed to his years outside Washington and in the private sector, saying they gave him a fresh perspective on how best to manage government spending.
Republicans however, have made a top priority of revoking Obama-backed health care reforms.
Romney’s problem is that the health reforms he backed while Massachusetts governor became the model for the federal plan, and he is at pains to explain how he can want to jettison the national plan while having backed a similar one for his state.
He is also a Mormon, a faith that many conservative Christians — a big segment of the Republican electorate — see as a cult.
By contrast, Perry slides in nicely on both fronts with his anti-government tea party message and his public profession of his Christianity — shown particularly when he sponsored a day of prayer in Texas, shortly before announcing his candidacy. The gathering sought God’s help with the state’s searing drought and putting the US back on a godly course.
He has since called the US federal pension system a ponzi scheme that is unconstitutional — further music to the ears of the substantial tea party wing of his party.
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