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A WILLisms.com Candidate Endorsement: Governor Rick Perry For Texas In 2010.

It is a rare condition these days when conservatives have elected officials we can celebrate. When we find them, we should reward them.

Observing from Texas, I tend to like what I see from Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, and even Sarah Palin of Alaska. Senators Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma seem like they're doing a great job. In the House, there are a dozen or two conservative heroes. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Mike Pence of Indiana... these are a few that come to mind right away.

Now, in Texas, we now have a Governor who is pro-life, who signed tort reform to prevent frivolous lawsuits, who worked to keep Texas a strong Right To Work state, who spearheaded greater openness and transparency in government, who enacted property tax relief and fought for appraisal reform, who has repeatedly called on the legislature to pass revenue caps that limit government spending to the inflation and population growth, who has implemented aggressive border security programs along the Rio Grande River, who deregulated electricity markets in the state, who stood-- literally, stood-- with Suzette Kelo in supporting the private property rights of homeowners, who has opposed ethanol subsidies from the beginning, who stood up and rejected the idea of bailouts before it was cool to do so, and who is not afraid of privatizing parts of government when it will benefit taxpayers. This is the record of Governor Perry. Many conservatives in many states would kill for a governor who stood for just one of those things. In Texas, we have a Governor who has stood for all of them.

It's no wonder Texas is the only state to add more than a negligible number of jobs in the year 2008.

Now, what about Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison? She's a woman, she was on the short-list to become John McCain's VP nominee, and she is wildly popular in surveys and polls. Unfortunately, she also has a troubling record, even just this month, when you'd assume she would be trying to send a message to conservatives on the fence about this race.

For example, yesterday Hutchison voted with the Democrats on S-CHIP expansion, and she voted with the Democrats on Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act just 8 days ago.

Hutchison also voted for the bailout back in October, she has a weak lifetime rating from Citizens Against Government Waste (.pdf), weak ratings from the National Taxpayers Union (.pdf), and poor ratings on the Club For Growth's RePORK Card. She has also claimed to be pro-choice, voted for a resolution endorsing Roe v. Wade, and now claims to be pro-life; she's just wishy-washy on important issues.

I hate tearing down my fellow Republicans, but I am convinced that in order for our party to rebuild, we've got to repair our brand. Wishy-washy Republicans who get poor ratings on pork and other spending issues do not deserve to replace one of the top five governors in America.

The best case scenario from Senator Hutchison running for Governor is that she is compelled to resign her Senate seat, Governor Perry gets to appoint a true conservative, and that individual or another true conservative wins the special election (in 2010) and regular election (in 2012). Meanwhile, Governor Perry wins in March of 2010 and serves one more term until another true conservative emerges to take the torch in 2014.

I feel so strongly about this that I have recently taken a job working for Governor Perry. Consider this post my "full disclosure" for future posts on the Texas gubernatorial race.

Posted by Will Franklin · 30 January 2009 04:03 PM

Comments

Posted by: ZsaZsa at January 31, 2009 01:52 PM

Posted by: LomaAlta at January 31, 2009 11:16 PM