Texas media notice that despite Gov. Rick Perry’s repeated insistence that he’s not running for president, his inaugural sure did have a lot on national themes.
“You might say historians will look back on this as the ‘Texas century,’” Perry said. “Americans once looked to the East Coast for opportunity and inspiration, then to the West Coast. Today they are looking to the Gulf Coast — they are looking to Texas.
Perry has repeatedly said he is not running for president. Yet he often sounded Tuesday like a candidate gearing up to unseat the president.
“With bloated stimulus spending, record debt and massive entitlement programs, Washington has America on a collision course with bankruptcy,” Perry said.
Painting a contrast with Washington, Perry said lawmakers will balance the budget with spending cuts.
Perry may not have meant his speech to seem presidential. But reading passages like the one below, it’s hard to believe that Perry doesn’t want to be seen as a potentially strong presidential candidate:
As we reflect together on all that has transpired since the icy cold of the last Texas inaugural, much has changed in our world. While conditions have improved for our troops in Iraq, they have worsened in Afghanistan.
Here at home, we’ve seen catastrophic events in the marketplace that have unleashed an economic recession unlike anything we’ve experienced in 70 years.
The failure of major financial institutions led to tighter credit, massive foreclosures, and staggering layoffs.
Risky practices in the private sector were compounded by poor spending decisions in the public sector.
With bloated stimulus spending, record debt and massive entitlement programs, Washington has America on a collision course with bankruptcy.
While Texas has fared better than most states, we have not gone untouched by this global recession, and we cannot forget those Texans who are dealing with the fear and uncertainty of joblessness.
While much has changed in the last four years, one thing will never change: the character, resilience and resourcefulness of our citizens.
Perry’s folks say nope, no presidential bid in the works. But I suppose the buzz is probably helpful to a governor heading into a legislative session with high hopes . . .