Texas Gov. Rick Perry, campaigning in the Granite State next door to Mitt Romney’s home state and Barack Obama’s preferred vacation spot, fired broadsides at both of his top rivals yesterday — with a jab at Romneycare and an unrepentant vow to keep speaking his mind no matter what the president thinks about it.
“The rhetoric will probably get heated. I’m going to be outspoken, I’m going to be passionate, I’m going to be calling it like I see it,” Perry told the Herald in a one-on-one interview, as he shrugged off Obama’s recent scolding that he should be “more careful” about what he says.
“And if I hurt the president’s feelings, well, with all due respect, I love my country and I love future generations more than I care about his feelings,” the 61-year-old governor added.
Perry, who embraced the Tea Party even before GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, also brushed off Democratic attempts to paint him as a marginal candidate.
“It’s the height of hypocrisy for this president to call anyone a marginal performer. If anyone is a marginal performer, it’s him. He has downgraded the good name and credit of this country,” Perry said. “Talk about someone who has marginalized America.”
Perry, who nabbed front-runner status in one national poll Tuesday, has been riding a whirlwind since joining the crowded Republican field thanks to his Texas-sized fund-raising network and solid job-creation chops.
He urged voters yesterday to compare his record with Romney’s while touring his top rival’s backyard. Perry also took aim at what conservatives see as a bull’s eye on the former Bay State governor’s back — the universal health-care plan he pushed through in Massachusetts that is widely viewed as the blueprint for Obamacare.
“I’m not a fan of that health-care plan that was passed in Massachusetts,” Perry told the Herald. He said he supports state officials’ right to pass their own health-care plans, but he rejects the president’s plan.
“This one-size-fits-all concept has got to go,” said Perry, calling the law, “devastating in its cost.”
He also challenged Romney’s jobs record.
“Look at our records. He was the governor of Massachusetts, I’m the governor of Texas. You can look and see what the jobs record was there,” said Perry, referencing the fact that the Bay State ranked 47th out of 50 states in job creation during Romney’s tenure.
Perry, who succeeded George W. Bush as governor in 2000, trumpeted the Lone Star state’s booming job growth.
“When you have Facebook and eBay and Caterpillar and Toyota all moving to Texas, they didn’t move there because we have good barbecue and warm weather in December,” Perry said. “They came because they knew they wouldn’t be overregulated.”
A Romney spokesman did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Romney has touted his experience as an investor and jobs creator at Bain Capital versus Perry’s 27 years as an elected official in the public sector. Romney has also criticized Obama’s health-care reform on the campaign trail, saying he would repeal the law if elected president.
Perry, who met with politicians, business owners and activists in Bedford and Nashua, N.H., yesterday, toned down his brash style as he sought to woo moderate Granite State residents.
“We got a lot of work to do. We got into this thing late. I got a lot of hands to shake and people to ask for support in the Granite State, and I have to earn their support and earn their trust,” said Perry, who declining to weigh in on whether Romney could beat Obama in 2012.
“The rhetoric will probably get heated. I’m going to be outspoken, I’m going to be passionate, I’m going to be calling it like I see it,” Perry told the Herald in a one-on-one interview, as he shrugged off Obama’s recent scolding that he should be “more careful” about what he says.
“And if I hurt the president’s feelings, well, with all due respect, I love my country and I love future generations more than I care about his feelings,” the 61-year-old governor added.
Perry, who embraced the Tea Party even before GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, also brushed off Democratic attempts to paint him as a marginal candidate.
“It’s the height of hypocrisy for this president to call anyone a marginal performer. If anyone is a marginal performer, it’s him. He has downgraded the good name and credit of this country,” Perry said. “Talk about someone who has marginalized America.”
Perry, who nabbed front-runner status in one national poll Tuesday, has been riding a whirlwind since joining the crowded Republican field thanks to his Texas-sized fund-raising network and solid job-creation chops.
He urged voters yesterday to compare his record with Romney’s while touring his top rival’s backyard. Perry also took aim at what conservatives see as a bull’s eye on the former Bay State governor’s back — the universal health-care plan he pushed through in Massachusetts that is widely viewed as the blueprint for Obamacare.
“I’m not a fan of that health-care plan that was passed in Massachusetts,” Perry told the Herald. He said he supports state officials’ right to pass their own health-care plans, but he rejects the president’s plan.
“This one-size-fits-all concept has got to go,” said Perry, calling the law, “devastating in its cost.”
He also challenged Romney’s jobs record.
“Look at our records. He was the governor of Massachusetts, I’m the governor of Texas. You can look and see what the jobs record was there,” said Perry, referencing the fact that the Bay State ranked 47th out of 50 states in job creation during Romney’s tenure.
Perry, who succeeded George W. Bush as governor in 2000, trumpeted the Lone Star state’s booming job growth.
“When you have Facebook and eBay and Caterpillar and Toyota all moving to Texas, they didn’t move there because we have good barbecue and warm weather in December,” Perry said. “They came because they knew they wouldn’t be overregulated.”
A Romney spokesman did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Romney has touted his experience as an investor and jobs creator at Bain Capital versus Perry’s 27 years as an elected official in the public sector. Romney has also criticized Obama’s health-care reform on the campaign trail, saying he would repeal the law if elected president.
Perry, who met with politicians, business owners and activists in Bedford and Nashua, N.H., yesterday, toned down his brash style as he sought to woo moderate Granite State residents.
“We got a lot of work to do. We got into this thing late. I got a lot of hands to shake and people to ask for support in the Granite State, and I have to earn their support and earn their trust,” said Perry, who declining to weigh in on whether Romney could beat Obama in 2012.
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