Tag: flak

Perry Has Some ‘Splainin To Do

Rick Perry, the Texas governor who the far right is desperately hoping will jump into the presidential race to give voice to the Intelligent Design and The Right to Choose Is the Greatest Threat To Mankind crowd, is getting some flak from fellow social conservative and 2008 contender Mike Huckabee:

In an email sent to his list of past and present supporters, Huckabee intones:

Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is still flirting with a run, and it’s the type of flirting even his wife approves of. The Dallas Morning News reports that a campaign button collector ordered a “Perry for Governor 2010” button from Perry’s office. What he got back was a button, all pressed and ready to go, that reads, “Perry – President – 2012.” So if Perry’s not running, then that button will be a REAL collector’s item. For all his new found commitment to hyper-conservatism, he’ll get to explain why he supported pro-abortion, pro-same sex marriage Rudy Guiliani last time.

Perhaps he’s bitter, as Maggie Haberman at Politico notes Huckabee sought Perry’s nod last time around only to get the electability argument shoved in his face:

“I love Mike,” Perry told an Iowa crowd in 2007. “I mean, he’s like a brother. I just don’t think he can win and I shared that with him. And [Huckabee] asked me to be his national chairman about six months ago and I told him, I said, ’Man, I love you like a brother, but just let me slide here.’ It was a hard conversation to call and tell him I was for Rudy. He was disappointed and a bit frustrated. I still love him and he loves me.”

Why Perry thinks he’s more electable than Huckabee, who was far more moderate in his tone and demeanor and earned respect from liberal pundits for his reasonable stances on issues like providing in-state tuition rates to children of illegal immigrants, is not discernible.