Rick Perry: Too big to fail?

Al Jazeera English:

Perry's ideological consistency is further cast into doubt if one juxtaposes his reflection on his time in the Air Force, when he reportedly "realised not everyone values life the way we [in the US] do", with the fact that he has succeeded in executing more people in the state of Texas than Bush.

Perry is a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative who opposes abortion. He has run campaigns promising to be tough on crime, and in 2006 stated that he believes in the inerrancy of the Bible and the notion that those who do not accept Jesus Christ as their saviour will go to hell.

Perry's campaign moves have become a source of near-constant criticism for many Texas newspapers and columnists.

"His campaign strategy, as best I understand it, is to open up roughly one can of crazy per day," Stroud has written.

"He breezily dismissed the science behind global warming. And he told a little kid in New Hampshire that we teach creationism in Texas public schools, even though it's unconstitutional to do so."

Wayne Slater, senior political writer for the Dallas Morning News, commented on Perry's appeal to Christian extremists and other radicals in order to shore up his political base: "The problem for Perry is, if he wins the Republican nomination, what does he tell general election voters who remember him cavorting with Birthers and Birchers and secessionists and dominionists and Christian Zionists? And I think that might be a problem."

According to Perry's campaign, the governor's achievements include being the direct cause of an ongoing economic boom in Texas.

Euphoria over the "Texas Miracle", as it is often called, points to half of all US job growth in the last two years having taken place in Texas. Texas' unemployment rate (8.4 per cent) is lower than the overall US rate (9.1 per cent), and 210,000 jobs were created there last year, more than in any other US state.

What Perry's campaign neglects to mention, however, is that at least 37 per cent of those 210,000 jobs are either at or below federal minimum wage, and that the unemployment rate in the state is the highest it has been since 1987.

The Perry camp has also failed to explain why Texas is beset with myriad other economic maladies, such as that 30 per cent of Texans - more than 6 million people - are uninsured, and that the state is facing a $4.3bn budget deficit this year alone.

In one of his most recent public blunders, Perry made a veiled threat of violence towards Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Compared to other US states, Texas ranks 44th in home ownership and 50th in affordability of home insurance, and has the highest rate of families without health insurance.

The state ranks first in the number of workplace fatalities and minimum wage workers, and 50th in workers compensation coverage. It also has the highest rate of workers earning either minimum wage or less, and the lowest average personal credit scores. In 2010, Texas ranked last in the percentage of adults with high school diplomas.

Under Perry's leadership, Texas has cut funding from public schools and pre-kindergarten programs for 100,000 low-income children.

Jensen believes that the US has shifted so far to the right politically since the 1970s that what was once referred to as the reactionary right wing has become an acceptable portion of the Republican party powerbase.

"I think there are two countries in the developed world that are essentially lunatic societies, meaning that they are unhinged from reality," Jensen said. "And these are the US and Israel. They've been riding high for so long, they've lost touch with reality. A big part of the Israeli political spectrum can't cope with reality and won't recognise it, and the same is true in the US."

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