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    Senior Member HAPPY2BME's Avatar
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    Perry can expect flak from left and right

    Rick Perry can expect flak from left and right as GOP hopefuls return to Florida

    By George Bennett
    Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
    Updated: 9:33 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011

    On illegal immigration, where many GOP candidates favor building more barriers along the U.S. border with Mexico, Perry said a massive fence "is just not reality."

    And Perry drew some boos from the audience of tea party activists for supporting in-state tuition benefits for children of illegal immigrants in Texas. That position is sure to displease immigration hard-liners, an important component of the GOP electorate in Florida and elsewhere.

    ORLANDO — Texas Gov. Rick Perry so far has successfully positioned himself as the conservative alternative to establishmentarian Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential race.

    But if last week's debate in Tampa is any guide, front-runner Perry can expect flak from the right on illegal immigration, a Texas vaccination policy and perhaps Afghanistan when he and the rest of the GOP field return to Florida this week.

    The eight leading Republican candidates will be in Orlando for a nationally televised debate on Thursday, a Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday and a Republican Party of Florida-sponsored straw poll on Saturday.

    Perry and Romney, the leading Republican candidates in most national and Florida polls, have clashed in two debates this month over Perry's characterization of Social Security as a "Ponzi scheme" and "monstrous lie" for younger workers because of its long-term financing issues.

    The Social Security fight puts Perry in the same position as many conservatives and Republicans who have been accused by Democrats in general-election campaigns of seeking to dismantle the New Deal program.

    But the Tampa debate highlighted other issues where Perry differs with fellow conservatives.

    On illegal immigration, where many GOP candidates favor building more barriers along the U.S. border with Mexico, Perry said a massive fence "is just not reality."

    And Perry drew some boos from the audience of tea party activists for supporting in-state tuition benefits for children of illegal immigrants in Texas. That position is sure to displease immigration hard-liners, an important component of the GOP electorate in Florida and elsewhere.

    The potency of the issue within the GOP was demonstrated last year when promises of an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration helped Rick Scott win Florida's Republican gubernatorial primary.

    Scott seldom raised the issue in his successful general-election campaign, and the Republican-controlled legislature this year failed to pass legislation favored by foes of illegal immigration.

    Bachmann, Santorum take shots

    Perry also was slammed during the Tampa debate by the two most outspoken social conservatives in the race - Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum - over an executive order requiring 11- and 12-year-old girls to get a vaccine against a sexually transmitted disease that can cause cervical cancer.

    Perry, whose policy was overturned by the legislature, said he regretted the way he went about ordering the vaccinations.

    "If I had it to do over again, I would have done it differently," Perry said. "I would have gone to the legislature, worked with them. But what was driving me was, obviously, making a difference about young people's lives."

    That answer didn't satisfy Santorum, who appealed to conservative concerns about government overreach.

    "He believes that what he did was right," Santorum said. "He thinks he went about it the wrong way. ... There is no government purpose served for having little girls inoculated at the force and compulsion of the government. This is big government run amok. It is bad policy, and it should not have been done."

    Bachmann, who has lost ground in the polls since Perry entered the race last month, also pounced on the vaccination issue during the debate. Bachmann followed up with a fund-raising letter and a campaign video comparing Perry's Texas policy to the federal health care law that conservatives detest.

    Afghanistan pullout answer criticized

    "Whether it's Obamacare or Perrycare, I oppose any governor or president who mandates a family's health care choices," Bachmann says in the video.

    Perry also raised concerns among GOP hawks when he gave an answer on Afghanistan that the conservative Weekly Standard called "incoherent."

    After former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman called for a speedy pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Perry said, "I agree with Gov. Huntsman when we talk about it's time to bring our young men and women home and as soon and, obviously, as safely as we can."

    Perry's campaign went into clarification mode afterward, emphasizing that Perry disagrees with Huntsman on a rapid withdrawal. In a Time interview later in the week, Perry said, "We need to make strategic decisions based on consultation with our military leaders on the ground, rather than just some arbitrary political promises."

    Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the criticism Perry has taken from the right doesn't diminish Perry's conservative credentials.

    On the vaccination issue, for example, "the governor erred on the side of life," Miner said. "The governor's a very pro-life person. This was a life issue."

    He added: "The governor's been a conservative governor and he's been a proven conservative."

    Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state ... ews_194103
    Join our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & to secure US borders by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member HAPPY2BME's Avatar
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    RELATED

    ALIPAC: On immigration, Rick Perry strays from tea party script
    http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1266326-.html#1266326

    "Perry was the first GOP candidate that the crowd booed tonight, and they started to boo as he rationalized his support for in-state tuition for illegal aliens," William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration Public Action Committee said in a written statement.

    "We are about to see what we will call the 'Perry Plunge' in the polls," Gheen said, citing a survey from Rasmussen Reports that showed 81 percent of Americans oppose tuition subsidies for illegal immigrants.
    Perry Booed for Supporting Tax Benefits for Illegals Opposed
    http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-249763-0-da ... rasc-.html

    What do you think of GOP Comments on Illegal Immigration?
    http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-249490-days ... asc-0.html

    Help us create a list of those opposing Obama's Amnesty
    http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1264467.html#1264467
    Join our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & to secure US borders by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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