Rick Perry: the Paint Creek boy who would be king

[WestVirginiaRebel]

UK Telegraph:

It is a pocket of rural America that has changed little in a century and is about as far removed from the bustle and marble monuments of Washington DC as one could imagine.

But Paint Creek, where ranches and wooden homes, some now abandoned, are dotted beside cotton and wheat fields, is the place that defines the man who some Republicans believe could unseat President Barack Obama next November.

Governor Rick Perry was part of the fifth generation to work the land at Paint Creek, some 200 miles west of Dallas on the flat expanse of plains known as “the Big Empty”.

It was here that he was imbued with the country values of church, family, neighbourliness, thrift and hard work that now seem part of a bygone America beyond places like West Texas.

“There were three things to do in Paint Creek: school, church, and Boy Scouts,” Mr Perry said last year, looking back on the late 1950s. “That’s it. And it was plenty.” Paint Creek was “one of the most beautiful places or it could be one of the most desolate” depending on the weather. As a child, he ventured, it was the home of “some of the most principled, disciplined people in the world, and faithful”.

Back in the late 1950s, he was known as Ricky Perry, a mischievous boy, always smiling, who lived with his parents and older sister Milla in a rented wooden house that lacked indoor plumbing. He wore a cowboy shirt hand sewn by his mother, a locally renowned quilter, and his highest ambition seemed to be to become an Eagle Scout.

Now 61 and governor of Texas since 2000, Mr Perry is the longest-serving chief executive of the state in its history and a man who has held elected office for almost 27 years. This weekend, he is expected to announce a bid for the American presidency, an office that until recently he had steadfastly maintained held no attraction for him.
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A look at the man who might sound like Bush, but certainly didn't have the same upbringing (which is a plus for him IMO.)

[Argyle58]

I dunno......he advocated TARP, in fact runs a similar program on the state level (called the Texas Enterprise Fund). TARP as proposed by Bush was perverted by the "o" to co-opt GM and Chrysler. Anyone who supports government intervention in the case of failed businesses gets an automatic downcheck from me.

 

"Too big to fail" is a failed policy.....it's grave should be sealed with concrete.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Well, what I meant was, he didn't come from a dynastic background the way Bush II did (although Bush himself is actually very down-to-Earth.)

 

Seems to be running to curry the social conservative vote.

[Saltbag]

As of right now I'd say I like Bachmann better, and all he'll do is steal votes from her, ensuring a Romney victory.

[pollyannaish]

While I think TARP was a terrible failure, as was Mitts healthcare plan...we can not forget context. I will not vote against people who supported these things once...only if they still do after seeing the results. Leading is far harder than being an armchair critic as Obama has illustrated. What I want to hear from any of these guys is realistic, honest way forward that takes into account a divided government, a contentious split in the populous and a really, really serious problem with debt that can't be solved by just clinging to idealism. That person will get my vote. I want long term conservative progress, not wishes and dreams.

[Rheo]

While I think TARP was a terrible failure, as was Mitts healthcare plan...we can not forget context. I will not vote against people who supported these things once...only if they still do after seeing the results. Leading is far harder than being an armchair critic as Obama has illustrated. What I want to hear from any of these guys is realistic, honest way forward that takes into account a divided government, a contentious split in the populous and a really, really serious problem with debt that can't be solved by just clinging to idealism. That person will get my vote. I want long term conservative progress, not wishes and dreams.

Well said.