07 Sep 2011

Paul and Perry Campaigns Battle Over Reagan

Ron Paul 9 Comments

This is hilarious. The Paul campaign put out this attack ad on Rick Perry:

So in response, did the Perry campaign show that Paul, say, was the Texas campaign chair for Clinton’s 1996 re-election bid? Of course not; Ron Paul would never have done such a thing.

Instead, the Perry campaign posted this letter (HT2 Iowa Independent) from Ron Paul explaining why he was leaving the GOP. It contains such shocking things as:

All Republicans rightly chastised Carter for his $38 billion deficit. But they ignore or even defend deficits of $220 billion, as government spending has grown 10.4 percent per year since Reagan took office…

Even worse, Big Government has been legitimized in a way that Democrats could never have accomplished. It was tragic to listen to Ronald Reagan on the 1986 campaign trail bragging about his high spending on farm subsidies, welfare, warfare, etc…

Yep, those two events seem roughly analogous to me, and I’m sure to the average Sean Hannity listener too. Rick Perry was reputedly* Al Gore’s campaign chair in Texas, and Ron Paul was mad that Reagan ran unprecedented budget deficits. As a compassionate conservative once said, “Bring it on!”**

* I say “reputedly” because there is some doubt. But check this out:

Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for Perry’s presidential campaign, recently told us by email: “We have no record or recollection of any leadership position” for Perry in Gore’s 1988 campaign.

Asked why Perry did not say as much when a 1998 opponent repeatedly lofted such claims, Sullivan replied: “We did not (have) access to information about the Gore ’88 campaign organization and therefore 10 years later could not definitively say one way or the other.”

Is that not the oddest denial you have ever read? Are they saying Rick Perry wasn’t sure if he was the campaign chair?!

** Not that I vote. Remember kids, politics is a waste of time.

9 Responses to “Paul and Perry Campaigns Battle Over Reagan”

  1. von Pepe says:

    You are a very enthusuatic, pro-certain candidate, non-voter.

  2. Martin says:

    Really, the Perry campaign blasts back at Ron Paul by posting a letter where Ron Paul condemns high deficits and high inflation? It’s about the platform, the message and actual achievements, not about party affiliation. The latter though is how the Perry campaign sees it.

    BTW props for consistency by Ron Paul, that letter could just as well have been drafted in 2008. He hasn’t changed a bit.

    • English Bob says:

      I think what happened is that Rick Perry had a pep talk with all his staff and concluded with “Remember what I expect of you guys: Do everything you can to get RP into the WH!”
      And then someone got confused.

      • Martin says:

        I laughed at that one. It seems like a sketch from some English comedy group.

  3. Bob Roddis says:

    Remember kids, politics is a waste of time.

    Wrong wrong wrong. Running for office forces one to realize that the voters and the media are even dumber and more hopeless than you had originally believed.

  4. Dan says:

    I thought that was pretty hilarious too. I can’t wait to see the debate tonight. Perry is going to attack Ron Paul for being more conservative than Ronald Reagan?

  5. Scott says:

    “Not that I vote. Remember kids, politics is a waste of time.”

    Kudos! I wish more people would say that…

  6. Yosef says:

    ” Are they saying Rick Perry wasn’t sure if he was the campaign chair?!”

    This is campaign season, so there is a lot of things Rick Perry isn’t certain about Rick Perry

  7. Bob Roddis says:

    Will Rick Perry be able to remember if he supported Algore in 1988

    a) because Reagan was a small government guy; or

    b) because, in fact, Reagan wasn’t a small government guy?