First there was Texan Lyndon Baines Johnson back in the 1960s who became a larger than life accidental president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Then there was George Herbert Walker Bush who made the Lone Star State his residence while building a successful oil business. And, of course, George W. Bush, was a proud Texan who left Austin to run for the White House leaving the door open for his then Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry to take over as governor.
Now, after being in that office for the past decade Governor Perry is approaching the starting gate in the not too distant future to throw his Stetson hat into the ring. Is it too soon after the presidency of George W. Bush for another Texan to try for the White House and win popular support to capture the Oval Office in the 2012 election.
George W. Bush ran in 2000 as a compassionate conservative. After just finishing Governor Perry's book Fed Up! Our Fight To Save America From Washington I would definitely say he is conservative but would not add the term compassionate in the title to describe him.
It is an excellent title for his book as he really does seem genuinely fed up with many things, first and foremost the federal government in Washington, D.C.
After criticizing in detail the federal government and arguing that his goal is to save the people and the states from Washington and most definitely the Supreme Court one wonders why in the world the governor would want to move to the nation's capital if it is so terrible.
He argues for states rights throughout his book and really dislikes the New Deal saying ..."the whole thing was a fraud and simply does not stand up to history."
It seems a bit late in time to blame the New Deal for our problems today but he feels the New Deal has set "the stage for a massive federal government" and that progressive politicians have romanticized FDR and his programs in order to justify more federal government spending even though he feels they were bad for the nation.
Even worse than the New Deal is the Sixteenth Amendment.
"This leads me to the great milestone on the road to serfdom: the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment. It gave Congress the authority to levy an income tax on American citizens and absolved the federal government from a previous requirement that any such taxes be returned to states proportionally to their collection. This was the birth of wealth redistribution in the United States."
The 47th and longest serving governor of Texas doesn't like the policymaking role of the Supreme Court and offers an answer to this problem by stating : "One such reform would be to institute term limits on what are now lifetime appointments for federal judges, particularly those on the Supreme Court.."
The man who is most likely going to run for the highest position in our federal government feels "our fight is to save America from Washington".
After reading Fed Up!, my first thought was that this was a well-named book. The governor from Paint Creek, Texas seems quite angry at the way things have gone wrong including the federal income tax, the Supreme Court, the New Deal, Obamacare -- which he wants repealed-to the role of some members of his own party who he feels do not believe anymore in conservative views once they have been in Washington too long.
The former Eagle Scout and Texas A&M graduate is ready to join the race for president and we will see if the baggage from the previous president from the Lone Star State is too much and too soon for Perry to overcome.
The governor and former Air Force Captain is very telegenic and has a great economic story to tell about Texas being a leader in job creation in these difficult economic times. The former Agriculture Commissioner certainly has executive experience and is popular with the conservatives in his own party.
The GOP field is still fluid with no overriding frontrunner. The governor of Texas has charisma and can raise money. The question is why would a person who seems to dislike much of Washington want to come and try and govern this place when he could stay back in his state and speak out more forcefully on states' rights issues from his state capital?
And the big question is: Is America ready again for a conservative president who hails from Texas? And can a politician who believes in a limited central government actually run a central government?
Governor Perry is a politician with a story of successful job creation to tell the American voters but will his story get lost in comparisons to George W. Bush? Or is America so angry and upset up after our pathetic manufactured debt debate that they will turn to the current Governor of Texas who is Fed Up!