The Skeletons in Rick Perry's Closet

"For all his new found commitment to hyper-conservatism," said the former GOP presidential candidate, "he'll get to explain why he supported pro-abortion, pro-same sex marriage Rudy Guiliani last time."

From CBS News

By Brian Montopoli

Texas governor Rick Perry looks, at the moment, like the man many Republicans have been waiting for. Perry has yet to enter the presidential race - he looks likely to do so in August - but he is already polling close to ostensible frontrunner Mitt Romney.

The buzz around Perry isn't just driven by the polling. It's grounded in the fact that Perry could potentially bridge the divide between the Tea Party conservatives and the party establishment. To borrow a phrase from Perry's predecessor in the Texas governor's office, who went on to bigger things: Perry could be a uniter, not a divider, that the GOP is desperate to find.

Perry's Taxpayer-Funded Home Could Pose Political Hazard

 "When Texas has a governor who is more interested in his own house -- his own future -- than our schoolhouses, which are our future, then you know he's been governor too long,"

From RealClearPolitics

By Scott Conroy 

One of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's most valuable assets as a potential Republican presidential candidate figures to be his early and emphatic association with the tea party movement, whose cost-cutting principles have dominated the discourse in early primary and caucus states.

But if Perry does enter the race, he is likely to face some uncomfortable questions about his own taxpayer-funded spending habits.

Perry is No Star in the Lone-Star State

In 2006, on the eve of midterm elections, President George W. Bush and Gov. Rick Perry attended a party rally in Dallas.

In Texas there is a popular saying that "you dance with the one that brung you."  But that doesn't apply to the state's governor who will say or do anything to hide what he is and get where he wants to be.  He's in the process of saying of his longtime friend and mentor, George W. Bush, "I don't know the man."    So it's not surprising that those who know him best are the least likely to support his possible candidacy for the Presidency.

The Public Policy Polling group found:

"President Barack Obama loses Texas to every notable Republican except Perry and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. If the ballot came down to Perry and Obama, 47 percent of poll respondents said they would vote for Obama. Forty-five percent said they would cast a ballot for Perry."

Old Rumors Resurface: Is Rick Perry Gay?

From New York Magazine

Rick Perry endorsing Rudy Giuliani for the Presidency in 2008

Rick Perry, if he enters the GOP primary race, will be well-positioned to chip away at Mitt Romney's front-runner status. But while Romney has, at least for political purposes, an impeccable marriage to wife Ann, Perry's marriage to wife Anita has long been dogged, at least inside Texas, by whispers.

Politico resurfaced the rumors for the national crowd this week, explaining that "his team is more than prepared for a re-airing of unsubstantiated rumors." (For instance, in Politico articles re-airing them. Or Daily Intel posts discussing those articles.) The most vicious gossip, which Perry publicly addressed in 2004, alleged that he was gay and had cheated on his wife with a member of his administration. The Austin Chronicle, the one paper that seems to have been willing to devote actual ink to the story, wrote that though they were "extraordinary in their baroque detail and remarkable persistence," there was no evidence whatsoever, and "numerous other reporters, from here to New York, have looked into the rumors, with, as far as we know, an identical lack of results." 

No New Texans! Jim DeMint for President

Sunlit Uplands readers know that we bow to no one in our utter contempt for the Marxist who is deliberately dividing and undermining this country from the Oval Office in the White House.  Yet we are also the first to acknowledge that no one bears more responsibility for the election of Barack Hussein Obama than George W. Bush.  We were, therefore, sorry to read this morning that his close friend and political protege, Texas Governor Rick Perry, has added South Carolina to his summer travel plans -- his first trip to an early presidential primary nominating state.

 South Carolinians have been tricked before by conservative rhetoric that masks big government, big spending, liberal policies and hordes of Rockefeller, Giuliani, Romney-style appointees to impose them.  Indeed, George W. Bush never met a problem that $20 billion couldn't solve.  South Carolinians believe that problems are best solved locally, by caring individuals, churches, and civic organizations, where true charity is the reflex of prayer.  Many here give 10% of their income to support their church and its social outreach.  Could there be another state with more churches per capita than South Carolina?  

Governor Perry talks about the private sector doing the job government does so poorly.  Indeed, he has learned that in the new media, bombast and tough talk in a viral video can cover a thousand sins.  But when the talk ends, where does the governor put his money?  Not in his church.  ABC News reports:

The Perry family's income tax return shows Perry gave $90 to his church in 2007, a year in which he reported an income of more than $1 million, the San Antonio Express-News reported in Sunday's edition. Tax records from 2000, when Perry became governor, through 2009 show he earned $2.68 million and gave $14,243 to churches and religious organizations, about a half percent, the newspaper reported.

Perry reported no religious contributions in 2000 and 2009, according to his tax records.

Americans averaged giving nearly 1.2 percent of their income to churches and religious groups in 2004-08, according to the Illinois-based research firm Empty Tomb Inc., which tracks church-giving trends.

Does America need another liar and pretender in the White House? 

South Carolinians should not expect that the very political circle that brought America into crisis will now rescue us.  Indeed, we need not look very far afield at all for a quiet, prayerful, principled conservative to lead America in these dark days.  Among our own is a leader who talks the talk, but also walks the walk.  That's why we strongly support Jim DeMint for President.

Governor Perry Sends Texas Rangers to US-Mexico Border to Do Job Feds Refuse to Do

From Fox2Now
By Michael Graczyk

Special teams of Texas Rangers will be deployed to the Texas-Mexico border to deal with increasing violence because the federal government has failed to address growing problems there, Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday. "It is an expansive effort with the Rangers playing a more high-profile role than they've ever played before," Perry said of the Department of Public Safety's elite investigative unit.

The forces, dubbed "Ranger recon" teams, are the latest effort "to fill the gap that's been left by the federal government's ongoing failure to adequately secure our international border with Mexico," he said.

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