Texas is known for its fierce rivalries -- LBJ and Coke Stephenson; John Connally and Ralph Yarborough; Texas and Texas A&M. Add to the list the increasingly ferocious battle between two Texans seeking the Republican presidential nomination -- Gov. Rick Perry and Congressman Ron Paul.
When two candidates from the same state seek their partys presidential nomination, their contest often turns acrimonious, such as earlier this year when two Republican candidates from Minnesota -- U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty -- ripped into each other.
Perry entered the race on Aug. 13 -- the same day Paul finished with a strong second-place showing in the Iowa Republican straw poll in Ames. Since then, the two sides have shown no hesitation in launching attacks on each other.
Pauls camp ran an ad against Perry earlier in the month, accusing the Texas governor of supporting big government and reminding voters that Perry was state chairman for Al Gores bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988. The ad was run during Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate.
The Perry camp fired back -- and hit Paul for abandoning the Republican Party during Ronald Reagans presidency to run for the presidency as the Libertarian Party candidate. Citing Pauls resignation letter from the GOP, the Perry team insisted the congressman has no claim to the Reagan legacy.
Ronald Reagan was one of the most significant presidents of our generation, and a proven fiscal conservative, Mark Miner, a spokesman for Perry, said last week. Like President Reagan, Governor Perry has cut taxes and freed employers from government regulations that kill jobs.
Representative Pauls letter is a broadside attack on every element of President Reagans record and philosophy. Paul thought President Reagan was so bad, he left the GOP, Miner added. It will be interesting to hear Representative Paul explain why Reagan drove him from the party.
The Perry teams attacks on Paul were echoed on Wednesday by a prominent national conservative leader -- Gary Bauer.
Bauer, best known for leading the Family Research Council and making a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, sent an e-mail to supporters slamming Paul, arguing the congressman from the Lone Star State is not a conservative in the mold of Reagan.
I'm not a card-carrying member of the Ron Paul Fan Club, noted Bauer, who is now with Our American Values and the Campaign for Working Families PAC. "While I admire his devotion to the idea of limited government, his views on many issues are out of step with the Republican Party. So much so that Paul once left the GOP and ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket.
Yet his supporters routinely claim that he is the only true Reagan conservative in the race. In fact, Paul even has a new ad out touting his support for Ronald Reagan. Thanks to the Perry campaign, we have been reminded of how Ron Paul really felt about Ronald Reagan, Bauer continued. In 1987, as he was preparing his third-party presidential bid, Paul formally resigned from the Republican Party and blamed, of all people, Ronald Reagan for his leaving.
Like the Perry team, Bauer cited Pauls letter of resignation from the Republican Party in which the congressman attacked unprecedented deficits, massive monetary inflation, indiscriminate military spending, an irrational and unconstitutional foreign policy, zooming foreign aid, the exaltation of international banking, and the attack on our personal liberties and privacy under the Reagan administration.
As Ronald Reagan stared down the Soviet Union, rebuilt our military and fought a hostile Congress (I know because I was there!), Ron Paul ran for the exits, Bauer wrote. What exactly was Paul referring to when he wrote about Reagan's irrational and unconstitutional foreign policy? Did he mean rescuing American medical students held by Cuban commandos in Grenada? Did Paul oppose Reagan's military strikes on Libya after Gadhafi was implicated in the deaths of U.S. soldiers? When it came to the Soviet Union, Reagan's strategy was simple: We win, they lose. Was Paul, like Ted Kennedy, an advocate for coexistence with the Soviets? These aren't rhetorical questions.
One trait folks seemingly admire about Paul is his consistency. Well, I'll give him that. In condemning Ronald Reagan's indiscriminate military spending, we can see now that his teaming up with radical leftist and conservative-hater Barney Frank to slash the defense budget is nothing new. Paul has been trying to slash our defense spending for years, noted Bauer in conclusion. I haven't gone back to check the votes, but I assume that Ron Paul supported Jimmy Carter's efforts to gut our military. Favoring small government is one thing; but providing for the defense of its citizens is the primary obligation of government at every level. It's not clear to me that Paul understands that or the world we live in.
After Wednesday's debate, the Paul campaign took aim once again at Perry.
Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Paul and the chairman of his presidential campaign, sent a letter to Perry continuing the attacks on the Texas governor.
After our campaigns first ad highlighting your big-government record and support for liberal Al Gore, your campaign is attacking Dr. Paul -- missing the point of why your past is important, Benton wrote. We dont think the fact that you used to be a Democrat is the big problem here. The real problem is that, too often, you still act like one. Even you yourself, Governor Perry, said of your party switch, I will still vote the same principles, only with an R after my name.
Thats the kind of thinking that has our country teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. We cannot afford to nominate someone who thinks the letter next to their name is more important than what they believe," Benton added. Governor Perry, let me be clear: It is not that you supported Al Gore that worries us. It is that you supported Hillary Clintons health care plan.You pushed for federal bailout and stimulus funds. You support welfare for illegal immigrants. You tried to forcibly vaccinate12-year-old girls against sexually transmitted diseases by executive order. You raised taxes twice. And, state debt has more than doubled in your tenure as governor, pushing Texas to the brink of our constitutional debt limit.
Its that you supported all of these bad ideas that are inconsistent with how most Republicans understand conservatism, yet you now try to swagger your way into the tea party," Benton wrote in conclusion. Governor Perry, with all due respect, you have used great rhetoric.But you will have to answer to the voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and across the country as to why that rhetoric does not match your record.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
