Unbased first Published on 07/22/2015
James Richard “Rick” Perry. Former Governor of Texas. My current first choice for Republican Candidate for President of the United States in 2016. Actually there are two men in my top tier of Republican candidates. The other is Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida.
Both men were Governors of states with large diverse populations. Solutions to problems associated with large cities have been on their plates. They have similar experience in natural disaster preparedness and control. They’ve had wide experience in making decisions and making them stick. Neither seems a procrastinator who must wait until he sees which way the crowd is flowing before he jumps in front of it and yells “Follow Me”. Both men seem grounded in traditional American ideals.
Perry leads my list for one reason, military experience. He is one of three candidates with such experience. Other two are Senator Lindsey Graham and former Democrat Senator, James Webb. I want a Commander In Chief (CIC) who knows what the title means. I want a CIC who has cussed everybody from the President on down the chain of command to his unit commander, who called him out of bed for some seemingly half baked mission. I want a CIC who knows what it means to lead a unit, the members of which depend upon him for their lives. As a C-130 pilot during the 1970s, Rick Perry has that experience.
Perry’s big negative seems to be the verbal stumble he made in a November, 2011 debate the first time he ran for president. Big Deal. Tongue tied for a moment and the media shot him down. I’m absolutely positive he made other mistakes during the fifteen years he was Governor of Texas, but none have stuck as far as I can remember.
Bush’s big negative seems to be the fact that both father and brother are former Presidents of the United States. Not sure how that can be a negative. From a family who has such vast experience in leadership, it must run in his genes. No personal experience in military leadership, but a father who was a combat pilot before becoming CIC and a brother who was Air Guard before his CIC gig, must surely be sources of advice and confidence. Still, I like Perry’s personal experience best. He has felt the pressure of other men’s lives on his shoulders.
My second tier of candidates include Scott Walker and Chris Christie, Both arguably tough Governors who can take a stand and hold it. Neither has a military background however.
Walker made his reputation by going against public unions and winning. Three times he faced Wisconsin voters and national opposition and won. A fighter. He has flip flopped on a couple issues, but that may be because he’s learned more about them as he squares away on the national level. Can’t expect a tenth grader to know Senior class work right off the bat.
I like Christie because he lays out his policies and intentions right up front. Doesn’t wait for others to make their stand and then belittle their position and offer nothing in return. Some of his programs look radical until you stop and think a little. Generally I come out thinking his ideas make a lot of sense.
Oh yes. There are Democrats running too. The only one I met, THE ONLY one worth considering is Jim Webb of Virginia. Not a Governor, but he’s been a decorated Marine combat unit commander in Vietnam, a Sec of the Navy under Reagan and a United States Senator. He knows how the government works and I think how to make it work better.
Only knock against him I can think of is that he switched Republican to Democrat but he did that on a principled stand.
It’s time America had a leader rather than an administrative buffoon. My choices come closer to my leadership standards.
