Rick Perry: Sellout
Written by Sean on October 17th, 2007Last year, Gov. Perry faced what could have been serious trouble. First it looked like he might have a tough primary. Social conservatives rallied to him and deterred Carole Strayhorn from a primary challenge. Then he faced a multi-candidate general election, and once again social conservatives saved his bacon, helping him beat back three challengers. How, then, does Perry repay the favor?
Today he stabbed conservatives in the back and endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President. Suffice it to say that this is a stunning development and sadly an all too common theme. Perry got what he wanted from conservatives, and then turned on them after his election. Perry had a solidly pro-life, pro-family record, making this all the more stunning. If this does not make it impossible for Perry to win another election in Texas, conservatives don’t really run the show down there. If that is the case, one has to question whether we run the show anywhere.
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How is he a sellout?
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Conservatives got him reelected to advance a conservative agenda, not to hand the Party over to its Democrat wing.
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Sean, there are other issues for social conservatives including law and order. I think everyone here would agree that Texas is a law and order state. Giuliani is Mr. law and order.
Furthermore, I would argue that being a pro-choice Republican is not a huge problem in Texas. Kay Bailey Hutchison seems to be doing pretty well with a moderate position on abortion.
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Ryan, while Rudy may be all well and good on law and order, social conservatives are more concerned with marriage, abortion, school choice, sex ed, religious freedom, and run-away courts. It is extremely difficult to find a standard by which Rudy could be considered an acceptable candidate, nevermind the best one, for social cons. As to Hutchison, she is pro-choice, but she also has a pretty good record on the issue and has not been overtly hostile to soc-cons, as Rudy has throughout his career. That is, of course, until he started running for President.