PrintDaydreaming about a President Perry
I know, I know. Gov. Rick Perry came in fifth place in that dumb Iowa caucus, where genuine Republican voters were probably in the minority. He has announced that he is returning to Texas to reassess his campaign, but I hope it's only to change gears and not to quit.
I have been following the GOP candidates from the beginning, and while I have felt positive about nearly all (except Ron Paul), only Perry has inspired the same feeling I had as a teen in 1960 when JFK ran for president. However, it wasn't until Bill Clinton's inauguration that I realized that my excitement for JFK had nothing to do with the potential glamor of a young couple in the White House, but rather what he campaigned on.
I saw the thrill of victory at Clinton's ascent to the White and tried to equate it with the one I felt for Kennedy, but instead, all I felt was amazement at how undiscerning American voters were. JFK was a war hero, Clinton a draft-dodger. JFK's bimbos were well-hidden by the MSM, but Clinton's were right out there for all to see. JFK was a well-regarded senator; Clinton was the governor of a state that ranked 49th in per capita income. In addition, JFK wanted lower taxes and a strong military and probably would have been tossed out of today's Democratic Party when he told us to ask not what our government could do for us, but what we could do for our country.
One felt that, while not a perfect man, at least JFK loved this country, and it is this same love for America that drove Rick Perry into battle to save it. He is not a perfect man, and perhaps he doesn't have the telegenic qualities or oratorical skills that propelled an inexperienced and narcissistic individual into the White House. He does not have the mainstream media or the Republican establishment behind him, but he does have the alternative media and the Tea Party with him on the same playing field.
It's too bad that his confrontation with Politico reporter Mike Allen didn't come earlier in the campaign, because "You got a name?" makes a great sound bite on how to treat the left-wing media ambushes. It would also be the way he would probably confront world leaders who are not operating in our best interests -- firm but unwavering. One thing is for certain: a president Perry would not be bowing to any Saudi potentate or any other world leader.
But of course, I'm daydreaming and wishing and praying and doing all I can to avoid thinking about who remains in the race. Rick Santorum is a good guy and a Catholic whom my nuns in high school would be supporting, as they did JFK in 1960, but I don't believe that his policies would reduce our huge government. In a recent article on National Review Online, Brian Bolduc writes about the "overlooked virtue of the ex-senator's: his pragmatism."
Frankly, I don't think pragmatism is what is called for at this time. Slash-and-burn is what is needed to reduce our multi-trillion-dollar deficit. When I read on The Drudge Report that Rupert Murdoch was for Rick because he had vision, I thought that he was talking about Perry, not Santorum. It is Perry who wants to reduce the salaries of Congress and send them home packing. It is Perry who wants to eliminate the useless Departments of Energy, Housing, and Education. It is Perry who wants to drill, baby, drill. It is Perry who would never have pulled our soldiers out of Iraq before complete stabilization was in place. It is Perry who has the experience to get this country back on its feet.
There are only two things this country has ever done right, and they are the space program and our military -- both entities that this socialist administration and the Democratic Party gut at every opportunity.
Rick Perry could succeed with his policies only with a strong Tea-Party Congress, which only we can give him.
Yes, I am a daydreamer, but there's something about that handsome coyote-killer that reminds me of Ronnie.
