The Rick Perry stem-winder Rich describes sounds like a souped-up version of the speech I heard Perry deliver at the Heritage Foundation’s annual “Resource Bank” conference held this year in Dallas. Perry’s Heritage talk seems to have spent less time going after Obama than the NYC speech Rich describes, although hits at Oz-like DC bureaucrats were definitely included. Perry’s favored themes of job creation and devolving federal power to the states were also covered.
Perry’s style is very engaging. At times, he seems to act out virtually every word he speaks with his body. It’s all totally natural, and something you just have to see to understand. Impersonators would have a field day with Perry if he were to actually become president, but in ways I suspect would only help him. In this video of his Heritage talk, Perry starts out slowly, then grows more animated as he gets to his favorite themes. (Perry’s talk begins at 11:30. The inside banter with Heritage folks ends and the speech begins in earnest at the 15 minute mark.)