Rick Perry—Still All Hat, No Cattle On America’s Immigration Disaster
Rick Perry is trying to climb out of his coffin. Less than three years after the Texas governor’s humiliating fall from grassroots GOP favorite to late night TV punchline, two new polls show he is again competitive among Republican presidential candidates [Rick Perry. So hot right now.By Aaron Blake, Washington Post, July 18, 2014]. Incredibly, Perry using Americans’ disgust at Barack Obama’s border dissolution to further his ambitions. It’s a scam.
Perry is sure acting like a candidate—he’s been conducting border tours with immigration squish Sean Hannity and posing with the talk show host in paramilitary garb alongside a machine gun.
[Rick Perry takes Sean Hannity on border tour, by Kendall Breitman, Politico, July 11, 2014]. Perry also grabbed headlines by slamming Obama for showing up at Texas fundraisers while refusing to visit the border. Perry volunteered to show the President around, quipping that if he “is really serious about securing that border, we can show him how to do that.” [Rick Perry to Obama: Come to border, Politico, by Kendall Breitman, July 2, 2014]
Good red meat for Red State voters. The panelists on theMcLaughlin Group last weekend were near-unanimous in their praise of Rick Perry’s political skill during the crisis. Washington Times editor Guy Taylor said: “This is affecting Rick Perry more than it is Barack Obama – positively.” Eleanor Clift said: “Rick Perry outmaneuvered President Obama.” Mort Zuckerman added that Perry looked “presidential” in how he addressed the situation. EvenPat Buchanan noted: “I think Rick Perry is holding his own. He’s winning.” [McLaughlin Group: Rick Perry's Handling of Border Crisis Bolsters 2016 Chances, by Jeff Poor , Breitbart, July 13, 2014]
And praise of Perry was not limited to one Sunday talk show. The Dallas Morning News’ Gromer Jeffers noted that Perry “has turned the flood of children crossing the border to escape circumstances in Central America into an opportunity to repair his national reputation.” [Perry capitalizing politically on border crisis, July 14, 2014] Bill O’Reilly, now opportunistically squishy on immigration, said that Perry is emerging as a top GOP contender for 2016 and that “the man taking the most advantage of the situation is Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has now become Mr. Obama’s primary adversary.” [O'Reilly: 3 GOP Presidential Candidates Emerging From Immigration Crisis, Fox News, July 10, 2014]
Perry even managed to largely escape mockery when he accidently coined a Bushism in an interview with Brit Hume—calling for Americans to “humanitarily take care of” illegals. [Brit Hume to Perry: If National Guard Can’t Arrest Immigrants, Then What’s the Point? Real Clear Politics, July 13, 2014]
But despite these successes, as Nathan Gonzales of theRothenberg Political Reportnoted, Perry’s current actions do not “necessarily mean that any past mistakes have been erased… once the campaign is fully engaged, his opponents… will start raising questions as to whether he’s up for the job.”
“Questions” is putting it mildly. Perry has a horrific record onimmigration and border security and the fact that few within theConservative Establishment are calling out his hypocrisy is shameful. Immigration patriots—Americans—can’t afford to be fooled again. . . .
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