Tuesday, September 13, 2011

CNN Debate - Non-Issues Drag Down Perry

During the CNN debate last night, much hoop-la was made about Governor Perry signing an executive order to mandate vaccination against STD for teenage girls. Though he apologizes for his methodology, I believe the way he handles the response successfully lead to his embarrassment among his rivals, among whom Micheal Backmann gained the most.

He also allowed himself to be embarrassed on his stance on those wishing to seek citizenship while in study. My inner libertarian found this stance appealing, but my inner conservative shook his head on how Perry lost the initiative on the framing battle. He should have made mention of how it was a LEGAL path that he implemented intended for guest workers with Green Cards. He should have emphasized that as Governor of Texas, he understood that there was a fine line between being anti-ILLEGAL immigration, and simply being anti-immigration. From this position of strength, he could turned the issue back on his rivals on whether they understood the difference.

For all the stumbling Perry made, I could not help that these attempts to pull him down were based on non-issues. Personally, I took somewhat of a liking to Perry for having the courage to call our current entitlements the Ponsi Scheme that it is. In order to get rid of the 800 pound gorilla in the room, acknowledging is presence is necessarily the first step towards removing it. And ultimately, it takes a president to lead on this. With the nation in a crisis mentality, now has never been a more perfect opportunity to educate the nation on the issue, especially considering evidence that the people are becoming ever wary of the program's condition.

Rommey's insistence on sticking to the tried and true framing methods of social security however was discouraging, for it brings doubts as to whether he would take the steps to seriously address the entitlement crisis. Somehow, I find myself drawn to the case of Perry the more that establishment republicans refuse to show a courageous commitment to addressing all of the nation's entitlement woes, not just simply Obamacare.

~David Morris~

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