My Iowa Caucus Speech for Perry & Why I hope South Carolinians Agree With Me!
Last week when our family traveled to Iowa to speak for Gov. Perry at one of the caucus meetings, it forced me to sit down & really think through why he was still my number one choice out of the conservatives in this race. This is what I told those Iowa caucus goers that night & what I’d like to also say to the folks in South Carolina who will now have the most influence on which conservative will be in a position take on Romney for the nomination:
“My name is Rick Green and I’m a former Texas state representative. I spent the last 10 years working with David Barton & WallBuilders, hosting David’s radio program and speaking around the nation on the Founding Fathers and the Biblically based Constitutional principles that made America the greatest nation in the history of the world. We have devoted our lives to preserving and passing liberty to the next generation.
My family and I spent our own money to fly here to be with you in Iowa tonight, all the way from the big city of Dripping Springs, TX. In fact my 17 yr old nephew worked hard to earn enough money to buy his own plane ticket…why? because we care deeply about our nation and we believe your decisions tonight will have a huge impact on the future of our children.
It was not easy to decide who we would support in this race. We have struggled just like, according to the polling, most of you. I’ve been excited about one candidate, then disappointed…excited about another candidate then disappointed. 
I feel like I’ve gone through candidates the way Elizabeth Taylor went through husbands.
It’s a tough situation you are in as the first ones to vet these candidates. But I don’t think we have all struggled because there are no good candidates, I believe our decision is difficult because there are several great candidates…and like all of us, they have great flaws. Whether its Romneys flip-flopping, Perry’s debate gaffes, Newt’s personal issues, Bachmann’s exaggerated attacks, or Santorum’s defensive communication style that makes it very hard for him to win votes…every one of them has positives and negatives we each have to weigh as we make our choice.
So the only thing I know to do is ask the same two questions I ask in every political race…which candidate MOST shares my values AND can get the job done? I don’t know about you, but I have yet to find a candidate I agree with 100% of the time, so I have to find the one that most shares my values BUT they must also be effective…they have to be able to win the election and then be effective in office. None of us want someone that is only one or the other…if they agree with us on the issues 100% of the time, but they can’t get elected or they are unable to get things done once in office, then we’ve done nothing to save our nation. If they are really good at getting elected and maybe even good at passing legislation, but they have the wrong values or their values change with the wind, that’s no good either. They must BOTH share our values AND be effective.
For me, as a constitutional conservative, Rick Perry stands out, by far, as the one candidate with a proven track record of solid conservative values AND the ability to win tough elections followed by effective governing leadership that actually takes our conservative philosophy and makes it into policy.
Have I agreed with every single decision he has made? No, of course not. In the 13 years he has been either Lt. Gov or Gov there have been literally thousands of bills and policy issues and yes, there were 3 or 4 where I disagreed with him and said so publicly…but 3 or 4 mistakes, which he admits, out of thousands? That’s an impressive record!
He is without question the most pro-life, traditional values, pro-free market governor in the nation. He not only has the right positions, he has an extremely successful record of getting legislation passed and moving the conservative agenda forward. Just pick an issue and he has delivered in Texas (parental notification and parental consent and requiring a sonogram before an abortion, as well as defunding planned parenthood, passing a marriage amendment that protects traditional marriage, tort reform, 2nd amendment protections, securing the border, homeschooling protections, charter schools, religious liberty statutes, voter ID, and he signed my legislation requiring kids to study the declaration and the constitution every year at every grade level. I can’t think of a sing
le conservative issue where he has not delivered a victory and moved the conservative agenda forward.
So does he share your conservative values and does he have a track record of getting the job done? Well, as Sara Palin said when she came to Texas to campaign for his re-election as governor…”u betcha!!”
So the only question remaining is “can he beat Barack Obama?”
I know he had a couple of bad nights in the debates and that’s really the one thing that gives most people, including me, some pause and concern. But let’s look at the total picture, not just a snapshot of one or two minutes…he has consistently gotten better and better in the debates, he is the best in the field at retail politics, and he will be more than ready for Obama When the general election gets here.
In virtually every statewide race back home people, including me sometimes, said he could not win and then he won in landslides.
He is the only one in the race about which we can say ALL of the following things ( each candidate can say one or two of these):
1. He was against Obamacare and the individual mandate from the beginning, never nuanced, never waffling.
2. Executive experience at the highest level…11 years at the helm of the 13th largest economy in the world where 1 million jobs were created while the rest of the nation lost 2 million. There is a reason for that! He put in place the laws and policies that created an atmosphere of exceptionalism and free enterprise…exactly what we need on the federal level!
3. A lifetime of being faithful to his wife and his principles and being a great role model for young people. From eagle scout to wearing the uniform of our military to a lifetime of public service without any corruption, not a single scandal…rare in our nation today!
4. He gets what we are up against in the war against radical Islam, and he will take the steps necessary to protect our nation.
Rick perry is a man that understands the times AND knows what to do.
I urge you to support a candidate that BOTH shares our values AND can get the job done and that man is Gov Rick Perry.”
So that’s what I said in Iowa and that’s what I’m still saying. My wife, Kara, asked me the other day, “how is that we have the most successful governor in the nation by any measurement in the race and yet the most UNsuccessful governor in the race is winning (Romney)?” Well, I’ve listed the reasons throughout this blog as we analyzed the candidates. The question now is whether South Carolina will judge these candidates on the full picture and nominate the one that has a proven track record of moving the conservative agenda forward!
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I’ve wondered too, but in my own opinion, the positive media coverage Mitt receives tells everyone he’s the candidate to vote for…..remember the Zig Ziglar book that uses the examples of ‘you get what you expect’. Most people listen to the ‘at large’ media and then behave the way they have been told.
Perry has been my top choice since before he entered the race.
Thank you, Rick Green. Very well said. We appreciate your sharing your thought process as you vetted the candidates. Thank you for standing for our governor. We definitely agree.
Good post Rick. Unfortunately, I think the writing is on the wall. In response to your question to Kara, as to how it could be that Perry is losing to Romney, I think it comes down to rhetoric and appetite. Governor Perry has repeatedly made bold statements in an effort to break from the pack (eliminating 3 government agencies–gaffe aside–scrapping the income tax, reducing the service of Congress, and sending troops back into Iraq), but these proposals came off as rash, if not radical. Regardless of their merit, these ideas are so different that they violate intuition. I think most people understand that the President doesn’t have the power to cut Congress’s pay, or reduce it to an every-other-year session; that cutting government agencies would require and act of Congress, and few Congressmen want to carry the label of cutting education or hurting the environment in their re-election bids; that cutting taxes is hard enough, much less replacing the tax code altogether; and that sending troops back into Iraq, no matter strategy, is geo-politically untenable. By comparison, Governor Romney sounds sober and level-headed. After three years of extremist policies, I think many Americans want sobriety. And I think that is why many on the right are holding on to Romney, even as they flirt with other alternatives. At the end of the day, several of the other candidates are dream dates for the right, but Romney is the guy you introduce your parents to. That’s why he’ll win.
I appreciate Newt Gingrich’s defense of Christianity (his accusation of anti-Christian bigotry by the media as well as the Obama Whitehouse) . Hear Hear! However I have to admit no-one testifies about Jesus to the extent that Rick Perry does – this may be the best strategy!
Personally, I think the endorsement of John McCain for Mitt Romney, may be a harbinger of things to come! McCain ran a lackluster campaign and lost to Obama (even Sarah Palin couldn’t save him). Is his endorsement of another candidate that is accused of being Obama “lite” a warning to conservatives?
Our problem isn’t financial, it’s spiritual. America hasn’t woken up to that fact.
I’ve heard disturbing things about Perry – Guardasil, NAFTA Highway, in state-tuition for illegals, but I believe he’s doing his best, as a recent convert, to try to understand the Christian perspective on things!
I also think his bumbling during the debates is almost a refreshing contrast to the lying, “slick” Obama performances that disguise his true intentions! Rick comes off human and someone most of us can relate to.
Despite this, I note that Perry is a tough guy. He’s for the death penalty! My perception is; he could in fact be tough against Islam. We need someone in the Oval Office who can and will take a stand against our enemies, foreign and domestic (CAIR).
I’m still for Newt, but I haven’t written off Perry. I’m surprised how many people simply don’t like Newt, yet I regard him as brilliant and someone who can be trusted if we go to war with a nation like Iran!
I wonder if Huntsman’s drop out and endorsement of Romney is a backroom deal for a Romney/Huntsman ticket?
Time will tell – that’s my perspective.