Why did Rick Perry change his party affiliation to Republican?

[ThatPoetGuy]

Anybody know?

I was reading about him, and found that his father was a Democrat, that Perry was elected to the state legislature as a Democrat, and that he chaired the Gore presidential primary campaign for Texas in 1988.

Then, in 1989, he went over the the dark side.

Anybody know why?

Was it just because a Republican (pseudo) Texan had taken the white house?

Is he that much of a convictionless lickspittle that he'd switch from an ardent Gore supporter to sucking up to G.H.W. Bush just because Bush won?

Or are there other reasons? Upward mobility, etc.?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. No idea, really...

Maybe the Democrats threw him out?

Nah...

:P

[shraby]

2. Found out he wasn't smart enough to be a Dem?

[Lunabelle]

12. I wish I'd said that. Good one.

[napi21]

3. I'm not sure but I suspect he realized he would do better in the Pub party in Tx.

There are soe Dems in Tx, but when I lived there they were far & few, Austin has quite a few but the rest of the State is just stupid.

[Kalidurga]

4. I don't know but....

I am glad he switched sides. The only thing worse than Perry the Republican would be Perry the Democrat.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. True. If he were a Democrat we'd have a huge contingent here

insisting that we HAD to support him because of the 'D'.

[MagickMuffin]

5. And you now live in Georgia where there is also stupid people

As is your statement. So, when you lived here did you go around and ask everyone you met what party they were members of, or is that just your opinion. Because I know a lot of Democrats.

There are plenty of Democrats in Texas in every county. However, the whackadoodles out number us. Texas used to be a stronghold for Democrats, but things changed to the darkside. We i.e. Democrats are working hard to change things back to the way things used to be where the Democrats once again are the majority.

[napi21]

8. I don't think I said I currently live there. I moved in 2000. I would never

move back there. Sorry, I met a lot of nice people but they all were Pubs! I lived in North Sanantonio, in Stone Mountain. It was a nice place, but I have to tell you, not anything to do with anyone who lives there, but it's too damn hot there, and I just can't stand it.

[Ozymanithrax]

6. There were a lot of Southern Democrats that were racist, ignorant,

corporate, fucknuts. In fact, the South was heavily Democratic until Reagan, when it began to switch parties.

Pretty much all of them switched by the end of Clinton's Presidency.

[Historic NY]

7. The biggest thing I've always heard about switching was abortion........

but look what that brought. I tend to think its because hey were bought off with great promises of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Prove me wrong.

[ingac70]

9. Because there was no other way he could get elected.

It was Karl Rove's idea.

[blogslut]

11. This is the correct answer

He switched to win an election. Rove convinced him to change parties. Brought in a guy named Dave Carney to manage the new Perry. Later, when Carney wanted to fight dirty to win Perry's run for Lieutenant Governor, Rove objected. Carney ignored Karl and the two have disliked each other ever since. Rove is still a Bushie and Carney is still Perry's turblossom and now they're battling for PAC money.

[Melissa G]

16. +1

:thumbsup: :hi:

[starroute]

18. Much like Rove was involved with Phil Gramm's party shift

Gramm was Perry's mentor, and their careers have certain similarities.

Gramm was elected to Congress in 1978 as a Democrat. But in 1982, he was the only Democratic client of Rove's consulting firm -- and right after the election, he was kicked off the House Budget Committee for supporting Reagan's economic policies. He thereupon resigned, became a Republican, and ran for his own former seat in a special election in February 1983.

I'm starting to think that Rove had a deliberate policy of picking off conservative Democrats and giving them incentive to switch. Partly it was the way the South was going at that time -- but it would also go alone with Rove's long-term strategy of excluding Democrats from power and insuring total Republican hegemony.

[TexasProgresive]

13. When Perry was a Democrat so was the majority of Texans

There was a massive move by voters and candidates to the darkside around the time that Perry jumped ship. He was a protegee of Phil Gramm(stand) who also was a Dem and turned r'puke.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. millions of Texans switched from Dem to Repuke. nt

[Javaman]

15. Here's why...

Living in Texas as I do, and having to deal with cement head perry for lo these many years, the answer is very simple:

He's a political opportunist.

He was a Dem, then when the stupid winds of change began to blow, he saw opportunity and most of all MONEY. So he switched to repuke.

Now the political winds are blowing again and he once again abandons old party affiliations to now side with the ball lickers.

While some people gain wisdom as they age, cement head perry chose the opposite route of becoming more and more stupid to satisfy his political monetary want.

did cement head perry dumb himself down to follow the money or has he just sort out his level of intelligence with which he is comfortable?

I pick the latter.

He is possibly one of the most stupid people on the planet.

[warrior1]

17. he's

an opportunist like Palin. It's all about money and power.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. The same reason Willy Sutton robbed bank. "Because that's where the money is."

[MilesColtrane]

20. Two words: upward mobility

Texas had been rapidly and overwhelmingly turning red since the late 70s. If Perry wanted to advance his political career, he had to make the switch.

And yes, the only convictions he has concern money and power.

[L. Coyote]

21. SHAM? In the fall of 1988, he voted for Bush.

Gore shared the views of his fellow southern centrists — he opposed the federal funding of abortion, supported a moment of silence in schools for prayer, approved funding of the Nicaraguan contras and was against the ban on interstate handgun sales. It was a platform a conservative West Texas Democrat like state representative Perry could stand on, and he signed up to chair the Senator's Texas campaign. (See "Rick Perry and the Echoes of George W. Bush.")

Several more-liberal state Democratic Party leaders cast their lots with two of the other candidates, Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. But Gore worked the Texas legislative ranks for support, winning the backing of Texas House Speaker Gib Lewis and Lieut. Governor Bill Hobby. Lewis was especially important to appointing legislators to vital positions on fiscal committees. And so it was not surprising that 27 members of the Texas legislature, including Perry, a young two-term legislator, joined the duo in their support for Gore.

For Perry, picking Gore — an ambitious young Senator with a reputation as a hip "Atari Democrat" fond of high-tech innovation and new styles of communication — was a bold move. He could have chosen to stay on the sidelines, and few would have noticed his lack of an endorsement in the race. But it was consistent with Perry's penchant for hitching his wagon to whoever or whatever would move him up the political track — in this case, the statehouse leadership of Hobby and Lewis. However, Perry's Texas elders picked the wrong horse. On Super Tuesday, March 8, Gore placed third behind Dukakis and Jesse Jackson in Texas.

A decade later, Perry said the 1988 presidential primary election helped push him to his party switch. In the fall of 1988, he voted for Bush

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2081596,00.html#ixzz1W3Yz3Prk

[Curmudgeoness]

22. Have you listened to his ideas? The bigger question is

how was he ever a Dem?