Just because he wears cowboy boots and drops his G’s doesn’t mean he’s a dummy. Perry may be a small-town boy who went to an ag school (Texas A&M University), but he’s an extremely cagey and strategic politician who has been among the state’s most successful governors at getting what he wants. Put another way: Even if he’s not book smart by University of Chicago standards, he’s plenty street smart – and street smart is still smart. The better lens through which to regard Perry is inside vs. outside, establishment vs. anti-establishment, elitist vs. jus’ folks. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that jus’ folks is jus’ dumb.
–Evan Smith (“5 Myths About Rick Perry,” Washington Post, 8/21/11)
Whatever his brain power is, he was elected three times governor of Texas. He is now a first-tier presidential contender. He’s smart enough to be President of the United States. He’s smart enough to be elected, I think. At this point, I think we can stipulate that. So whatever his book smarts are, I think that’s irrelevant for this discussion. He has clearly met the bar in Texas several times. The voters in Texas have said three times he’s smart enough to be governor, and he’s had a record that he’s now running on.
—ABC World News senior Washington editor Rick Klein (Fox News‘ On the Record, 8/29/11)
Liberals often say Republicans are stupid, but they really believe it with regard to Gov. Perry. For liberals, credentials and holding fashionable opinions are more important markers of intelligence than knowledge or accomplishment…. Gov. Perry scorns their opinions, and he went to Texas A&M, not Harvard or Yale. So when a new book said his is “the brainiest political operation in America,” liberals were shocked.
–Jack Kelly (“Kicking Rick: Mainstream Media and Democrats Fear the Texas Governor, So They Smear Him,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/4/11)
What those dummies Bush and Perry have in common, other than having been Texas governors, pilots and cheerleaders (what is it with Texas?), is that they’re not stupid at all…. They’re smart enough to know that most people in this country didn’t go to Ivy League colleges — or any college for that matter…. Until someone emerges to remind Americans of who they are in a way that neither insults their intelligence nor condescends to their less-fortunate circumstances, smart money goes to the “stupid” politicians, who are dumb as foxes and happy as clams when their opponents misunderestimate them.
–Kathleen Parker (“Not So Dumb After All,” Washington Post, 9/18/11)
I will tell you: It’s three agencies of government, when I get there, that are gone: Commerce, Education and the–what’s the third one there? Let’s see…. OK. So Commerce, Education and the– … The third agency of government I would–I would do away with the Education, the … Commerce and–let’s see–I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.
–Rick Perry (Republican presidential debate, 11/9/11)
I imagine he was casting about for the EPA.
It certainly wasn’t the Pentagon.
And there are different types of intelligence, which shouldn’t be confused with wisdom, especially in this context. I’d say Perry and W possess the same sort as other southern governors of a sadly not-so-bygone era, such as George Wallace and Ross Barnett.
And just so you know, this is coming from a good ol’ boy who grew up in apartheid Miss’ssippi in the ’60s, and has been known to drop a “g” on occasion.
@DL Thanks for the personal reference. But what about the corpress?
This is the way the media plays their game, trying to make news, and ratings, by repeatedly replaying gaffes, whether by Howard Dean in the 2004 cycle, or by Rick Perry in the 2012 cycle. I am more concerned by the lack of content in the speech of candidates than with the flawed, or clever, delivery of their sweet nothings; a memorable moment of laughter is a weak foundation on which to base the next four year term.
The media presumes to tell their public what to think, so they won’t have to. The problem is that the media players serve as marketers of ideas without being able to formulate any idea beyond those serving their own immediate needs and biases in deciding what, or who, they will sell to the public.
The great advantage of this sales job is that whatever they buy, the people, in the end, will have only themselves or the other party to blame. After the choice has been made, few will complain about the spare initial offerings presented to them by the duopoly and their corporate media.
The mistake is to think that Perry gives a damn about anything outside of base crony capitalism. Check out Matt Taibbi’s devastating piece on the governor at Rolling Stone. So what if he forgot the name of a Federal agency he wants to co-opt and destroy? As we have seen with the tax plan before this, it doesn’t matter that the governor is a complete moron–the media doesn’t care about that. The actor blew his lines–now that’s important. Every single one of those idiots up there with him aren’t fit to be stable-cleaners, let alone President. I was impressed by the questions asked at the very latest Republican “debate,” however, and the lies and stupid responses proffered. (Cain: it’s not torture, it’s “enhanced interrogation techniques.” And so on.)
Well…..This week Rush has been playing a tape of Obama at the same point in his campaign sounding just as bewildered(and for the same amount of time)on a question concerning Afghanistan.Ok Rush point taken but…Obama was as Tim put it -not fit to be a stable cleaner let alone president going in.And look what it has gotten us.I don’t want anything but a far better man than what we now have going in to this next administration.As a tea party conservative I think that moment for Perry was death.He failed on a number of levels.He had not “run the numbers”.He was spouting talking points ,and forgetting them to boot.Clinton would NEVER have been so dumbfounded up on that stage.Perry had some good ideas.The Republicans and tea party could run the board on “ideas”.He is not the man to deliver the message.
There were so many times during Obamas run when I could see the big vaudeville hook coming out for him.His party fought it back time after time.As it turned out- well we can all see how it turned out.Let those of us on the right allow that big old hook to come for Perry.He deserves it.His only reason for running can’t be that he is better than Obama.Everybody running is.And those on left (Hilary)who could run are as well.So what.We need a higher bar folks.
Aside from whatever pandering is going on by media that think he’s worth propping up, he’s also benefiting from gender and race privilege here. A dumb white male governor gets more credit than a dumb white female governor in particular, I suspect.
But after all is said and done, the 99% movement has made electoral politics less important for those of us who care about the future of our country and the world.