"What's all that recession ruckus in Texas?"
By Hilary Hylton
From Time Magazine
It
was the shout-out heard around the world: Texas' Republican governor Rick
Perry's praise for his state's tea-party protesters, accompanied by
not-so-veiled references to a potential Lone Star State secession. The remarks
prompted glaring red-website headlines and instant fodder for cable-TV pundits.
But for Texas political insiders, Perry's waving of the flag of secession was
just the latest volley in a Texas-size Republican civil war — a face-off
between Perry and his potential rival for the 2010 Republican
gubernatorial nomination, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Most
observers in Texas believe Hutchison will indeed challenge Perry. She has moved
from being coy about her plans to being less coy about running for governor.
Still, there has been no official announcement. And so Perry has embarked on a
Pavlovian political exercise: you say, "Hutchison," and he says,
"Washington." Some Perry backers have even dubbed the 16-year Senate
veteran "Kay Bailout Hutchison."
This
week's tea parties afforded the governor an opportunity to tap into the Texas
spirit of independence, a surefire crowd-pleaser in the reddest of red states,
one with a profound sense of its own identity, independent history and
anti-Washington sentiment. "Texas has yet to learn submission to any
oppression," Perry told roaring tea-party crowds in Austin and Fort Worth,
quoting Sam Houston, Texas' founding father.
Dressed
in jeans, boots and a baseball cap with a camouflage peak and a hunting
outfitter's logo, the Texas governor was one of the few major politicians to
appear at the tea parties across the country. While crowds yelled "Secede!
Secede!," Perry — 60 but telegenic and youthful — thought out loud that
secession might be the outcome if Washington does not mend its
"oppressive" high-spending, dictatorial ways. (Most experts say the
notion that Texas can legally secede is mistaken, but the state does have the
right to split into five states, offering the prospect of 10 U.S. Senators,
math that would send cold shivers down any Democratic back.)
After
the rallies, Perry downplayed his secession comments, amending them in an
interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to say, "I'm trying to make
the Obama Administration pay attention to the 10th Amendment." The
so-called 10th Amendment movement, asserting the rights of the states to claim
all powers not granted specifically to the Federal Government, has been grist
for conservatives for more than a decade. The movement got a boost following
the Democratic return to dominance in Congress and more traction when federal
dictates about how to spend stimulus money raised hackles in places like Texas
and South Carolina. Some two dozen state legislatures are considering or have
passed resolutions supporting the 10th Amendment.
Is
the governor's strategy working? While Perry was whipping up the tea-party
crowds, Senator Hutchison was in Houston touting her work in Washington and her
support for the federal deductability of state sales taxes. "The Senator
is on the front lines in working against the Obama Administration and their
unnecessary spending," her spokesman said. It was weak tea compared to
Perry's red rhetoric. Straddling the Washington-Texas divide has been difficult
for Hutchison. While Perry has been outspoken in rejecting federal unemployment
funds, saying they would result in increased premiums for Texas employers,
Senator Hutchison has been criticized for a less-than-clear stand on the issue.
She voted against the stimulus bill, then said Perry should find a way to take
the benefits without burdening employers in the future.
Nevertheless,
one longtime Republican analyst and numbers cruncher, Royal Masset, believes
Hutchison will defeat Perry and be the next governor of Texas. Polls suggest
she has an early lead, and Masset points to her overwhelming victories in the
past as evidence of her wide support not only among Republicans but also among
independents, who can vote in Texas primaries. He has urged Perry to forgo
another gubernatorial bid. Masset believes that Perry should be content with
one major accomplishment: helping to create more jobs in Texas than the rest of
the U.S. during his tenure. "Your place in history is secure," Masset
wrote in a recent analysis piece for the Quorum Report, an insider political
newsletter that circulates out of Austin, the state capital. "You would be
freed up to do great things on the national scene where real power is now held
by media stars such as you."
It
is not likely to be advice Perry will heed. He is already the longest serving
governor in Texas history — as lieutenant governor, he took over for
President-elect George W. Bush in December 2000. That has given him
unparalleled influence over state government, where much of the governor's
power resides in appointments to boards and commissions. Masset believes that
more of that kind of centralization of power "will lead to
Washington-style corruption. We need new people with new ideas. We need new
appointees and new blood."
All this
talk of front lines, "oppressive Washington" and states' rights and
cries of "Texas not taxes!" ironically comes as Texans get ready to
commemorate on April 21 the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive battle of
Texas' fight for independence from Mexico. It is also the day legislative
hearings will be held in Austin on Texas' 10th Amendment resolution — so far,
about half the members of the house of representatives have signed on as
co-sponsors of the measure, which affirms Texas sovereignty under the 10th
Amendment and serves notice to the Federal Government "to cease and desist
certain mandates." Meanwhile, Texas house Democratic leader Jim Dunnam
introduced a counterresolution Thursday, disagreeing with "any fringe
element advocating the 'secession' of Texas" and adding that Perry's
remarks were anti-American. Perry downplayed the brouhaha, telling reporters,
"This is America, baby. The First Amendment, we like that too."

