Today Rudy Giuliani was making the rounds here in our fair
city, boosting the political stock of Texas Governor Rick Perry. What’s the former mayor of New
York City and 2007-2008 presidential contender doing injecting
himself into the showdown between our governor and Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchison, who is planning to give up her senate seat any day now and come back
to Texas and
try to take the CEO job away from the incumbent?
A couple of points:
In the run-up to the 2007-2008 presidential cycle, most Texas
Republicans kept their distance from Rudy.
A large majority of the GOP legislators, for example, signed up as backers
of former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, but Governor Perry was an early and
enthusiastic supporter of the former NYC mayor.
So some of today’s action is payback.
Rick Perry helped Rudy Giuliani in 2007, so the favor is returned in
2009 when the governor faces the fight of his political life against the senior
senator.
And Rudy does have Texas connections. Back in 2000 when he was
mayor, Rudy Giuliani collected a fair amount of money in Texas for his abortive race against then
First Lady Hillary Clinton for an open U.S. Senate seat. Family and health issues forced him out of
that race, but he established a financial base here that he worked hard in his
presidential run. Now that he is
weighing another run for office back in New York (either for governor or the
senate, now that Hillary has moved on to the State Department), renewing
acquaintance with his friends in Texas makes sense. And, of course, Mr. Giuliani is a name
partner in the veritable Bracewell law firm, one of Houston’s
larger legal partnerships, so embracing the sitting governor on a swing through Texas might
just be good for business.
And the Governor?
Isn’t he taking some risks by squiring a pro-choice defender of gay
rights around the Lone Star State? Rick Perry evidently feels he is solid enough
with social conservatives these days that his right flank is secure going into
the primary fight with Senator Hutchison.
Remember, before Rudy, there was Sarah.
The recently retired Alaska governor
has also endorsed the pride of Haskell County in the
gubernatorial primary, and Sarah Palin has a passionate following in these
parts among likely Republican primary voters.
So score one for Governor Perry in this round. Having Rudy here helps him get back to his
border security/stop terrorists plank because the former mayor has credibility
with Republicans on national security issues, and his presence does little to
excite concern that gays will soon be marrying at the Harris County Courthouse.
This latest development continues the trend of the last six
months where the governor has been on the offensive, and Senator Hutchison is
playing defense, and not playing it very well in my opinion.
As a consequence, although Ms. Hutchison entered the race as
the most popular office-holder in Texas, that initial advantage has been
frittered away as she continues to vacillate about leaving the U.S. Senate and
has, to this point, failed to lay out for Texas Republicans a clear case why
they should fire the a nine-year governor and replace him with a 16-year U.S.
senator.
Dr. Richard Murray
Well done Dr Murray, lots of insight.
Posted by: Robert | September 16, 2009 at 10:55 PM