Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry dismissed comparisons between himself and former president George W. Bush on Monday, calling them "inevitable" but unfair.
"I am Rick Perry and he is George Bush," Perry declared as he marched through the Iowa State Fair, surrounded by reporters. "And our records are quite different."
Asked what the biggest difference is, Perry responded: "I went to Texas A&M. He went to Yale."
He did not answer when pressed to name a policy difference.
Perry, who took office in Austin after Bush captured the White House in 2000, seemed to bristle at the suggestion, which is certain to haunt him during his campaign.
Some Republicans are queasy about the prospect of the party putting another swaggering Texan at the top of the ticket in 2012, especially with recent polls showing that Bush still shoulders most of the blame for the sagging economy.
"George Bush is not my opponent," he told reporters. "He a former president and we give him all the respect for that, but we are talking about how you create jobs."
Perry is in the midst of his first trip to Iowa as a presidential hopeful, and on Monday he showed off the retails skills that made him such a formidable candidate back home in Texas.
Back-slapping and cheek-pinching his way through the fair, Perry displayed a common touch, posing for photos with toddlers and talking ranching with passers-by.
When offered to taste a sizeable pork tenderloin, he ate the whole thing.
"Pork, the other white meat," he said, before tearing into the slab of meat. "We won't have to worry about dinner tonight, and there will be a good little bit of exercise, too."
He made a point of shaking hands with military veterans and their families and rarely missed a chance to remind voters that he served as a captain in the Air Force.
Perry said that if elected, members of the United States Armed Forces would respect him more than President Barack Obama or any of his Republican rivals who have not served in the military.
"I think they would really like to see a person who wore a uniform in that office and I think that's just a true statement," he said. "I wouldn't back up off it an inch. Go ask your veterans if they would rather see somebody who has never served as Commander-in-Chief."
He added, "Experience matters, having walked in a person's shoes, having done what these young men and women in the military are doing matters to them. I don't want somebody sitting in the front left seat of that airliner who just got their pilot's license."
From CNN Politics
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comparisons between Perry and former president George W. Bush called "inevitable" but unfair.
Comparisons between Bush's economy and Obama's economy – "inevitable" but unfair.
Great..another dumbass politician from Texas...The last one put the country on life-support. This one will put it in the grave....And I don't care if you would rather have a beer with him than Obama....!!
different nut, same tree. get over it Perry.
Yeah, right, good luck trying to shake off the man who was governor and left you in charge of texas when he was appointed to be president.
I wasn't watching TV yesterday and when I heard this clown speak I thought, for just a moment, that I was listening to the same dumg arse texan.
Your job creation in texas are minimum wage jobs. That means that most people will have to work two jobs or still live in poverty. One pair your ugly boots probably costs more than one of these poor souls makes in a month or two!
Great to have that swagger if this was 1945. But it ain't and you need brains to go with the brawn in this day & age. Obama used ALL resources to get Bin Laden. We saw what happened when Bush/Cheney rejected "soft military power" outright.
While W was one of the worst Presidents in recent history, and did much to destroy our economy, he was no phoney. What you saw was the real George W. Bush, good, bad, or whatever. I could stand to drink a cold beer with ol' W.
Rick Perry, on the other hand, ...
Mostly, what I'm curious about is that $6 billion in stimulus funds he accepted. Does that mean he thought the stimulus was a good idea? In addition, I notice that – according to recovery.gov – that Texas accepted about $11 billion in stimulus funds in 2009 all told. Does Perry claim that his record in job creation exists *independent* of the stimulus?
I hope he can do better than JImmy Carter II we have in office right now....
Please dude is Bush 2.1 and definitely not going to be in the White House unless he steals it like Bush 2.0!!! Romney and all the others will soon be playing that card on him in the coming weeks!!! lol Just give it time. Perry is about to become a major primary season target!!! lol
We already have enough of Perry's type of politician in Washington. All show and no go. He may be smarter than Bush, but that's not saying a whole lot.
I'm already sick of reading and hearing about Rick Perry. I can sense a Palin-like publicity storm on the horizon.
Their academic records are similar. Both were C and D students in college. Of course, Bush went to Yale, while Perry went to Texas A&M.
The comparison is not about your leadership, it is what you and the former Schizo-in-Chief have in common: YOU BOTH HEARD GOD'S VOICE TELL YOU TO BE PRESIDENT......
That is just one of the many ways that Perry and Bush are NOT different from each other. Both are delusional, religious zealots who think prayer will change everything. Rick Perry FYI: All you republican religious lunatics are convinced the world will end in 2012–so the reason you are running for president is???? End of the world or not, don't count on winning the White House.
The true comparison is here. Bush & Perry: Dumb and Dumber.
they kinda look alike – is that was Texas does to people ? Makes you old and wrinkly with bags you could pack and take on vacation?
I want to know what his economic plan for Ameirca is concidering Texas has a $21 Billion Budget Deficit.
I fell asleep with the news on and Perry was making his speech.....I thought Bush was back on the campaign trail again.
"I am Rick Perry and he is George Bush,"
It's somewhat shocking when you hear one of the Teatroll collective...a tru-believing GOP hive-minder...talk as though he has an identity separate from the rest of them. Perry should tell us what he'd do different:
Tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations...same.
Deregulatory behavior (or de facto deregulation via laz enforcement and oversight)...same.
Militarism, chest thmping foreign policy and corporate imperialism...same.
Embarass our country to the rest of the world by appearing to be an uneducated ideologue...same.
Krischun nashun blather about family values, homophobia, anti-choice, attempts to institutionalize Krischun belief systems as part of our legal framework....same.
Anti-education, pro-revisionist history....same.
ETC ETC ETC
I'm sorry...but Parry might as well be Dubta wearing someone else's skin like Buffalo Bill. It puts the coroprate donations in the campaign coffers or it gets the hose again....
The man was truely a Captain in The Air Force & a Fighter Pilot, You cant take that away from him. The thing Mitt piloted was endless job losses at Bain Capitol. Romney truely never had a hard days work in his life. Would you rather a have a Morman who wont discuss his religion that has 0 minority Elders while the church has 14 million members or a true Air Force Captain/ Fighter Pilot? He is a true man while Little Mitt is a morman Bigot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"true Air Force Captain/ Fighter Pilot?"
We chose Obama over one of those last time. You might want to rethink your strategy/talking points. Nobody cares that the guy flew airplanes. They want to know what he will do once he's elected.
And here's a nother BIG FAT HINT: THEY DO NOT WANT TO HEAR THAT HE WILL CREATE 10M MINIMUM WAGE JOBS SO THE INDENTURED SERVANT CLASS CAN BE EXPANDED FOR USE AS PEON LABOR BY THE RICH/CORPORATIONS.
He used the stimulus to pay Texas' bills - NOT to create jobs. More tax cuts for corporate "welfare".
Perry will have a tough time squaring his remarks about "Washington will be inconsequential" with his contant pleas for federal aid every time the wind blows in Texas. He is a clown, but I hope he does win the nomination. He will not fare well in the general. Appealing to the far right is not enough. Moderates and independents will never vote for him.
Interesting that Mr. "All hat, no cattle" Perry refused to note any policy differences between himself and WPE Bush. Rather telling there that indeed he is the latest Bush zombie cultist.
Perry is right, he isn't George W. Bush. Bush is considered smarter. Perry went to college to become a dog catcher, for goodness sake.
just another "C" and "D" student thinking he is smaret enough to be president–oh wait he is Called by God!
Obama 2012
Goood man, trustable even if you don't like his ideas. Obama...like a used car salesman ( need I say more)
Perry will be our next President, he will have to fix the mess Obama has gotten us in.
Daggummit Slick Rick, you too are a corporatist with contempt for the middle class - just like Dubya
At least a minimum wage job is a job! In the old days people worked 2 minimum wage jobs. People have to get off their ass & stop making excuses. I work 80 hours a week. Stop crying & do something, This is America, people & children are starving to death in Africa while some of our people are lazy. Sorry, the truth hurts!!!! & yes Mormans are true Bigots, In 1979 they were forced to open up the priesthood to blacks cause their tax exempt status was going to be taken away if not. Absolutely 100% true, These guys in Salt Lake are truely Bigots towards blacks!!!!!
Hey, even VETS can't use their VA IDs to vote in TX!! LOL. Perry....just another joke!
Let me think this out. I served 4 years in the air force, never saw combat and was an E-4 when I got out. So that makes me more qualified than someone who did not serve? I think it depends on what you did while you served. Just because you are a pilot does not qualify you to run our country.Many of our past presidents never served in the military and had great respect.
Oh goody-goody...the GOP's latest "golden boy" attempt to try and snag the Whitehouse in 2012...gee fellas...you guys are getin' kinda desperate here and showing your hand (as bad as it is)....from what I've seen so far....Mr. Perry and the rest of those nuts trying to become the GOP nominee definately aren't ready to go up against President Obama...crappy economy or not...let's see how long Mr. Perry will ride this wave before he's found out and crashes ...(I get the feeling it won't be that long)
If he gets elected president McDonalds will be hiring!!!!!
Perry is going home in 2012. The man is a fraud like the rest of the republican field.
The man got a C in US history and a D in economics at Texas A&M. I seem to recall someone else being a C/D student as well...hmmmm....
For NEXT:
You seem to have a short memory. This "mess" began in 2007- 2008 when another beloved Texan was in the White House. For your edification, Mr. Obama came into office in Jan. 2009. He is still cleaning up the tons of dung left by "W" and
it will take even longer to get our economy back on track. Deal with it. The idea that Mr. minimum wage job creator (Perry)has a magic pill is laughable, at best.
Bush is actually the smarter of the two. Scary, huh? Perry got a C in gym – who in the heck get's C's in gym????
SDDD. Same dork different decade.
Yes, Perry is no Bush. Bush, for all his faults and general economic incompetence at least seemed to have a sense of honor and the country's best interests in mind (even if execution was terrible). Perry, on the other hand, combines a general lack of economic and governmental competence with a sense of ethics that would put most used car salesmen to shame.
The real difference between the two is that Rick Perry has better hair and he's not nearly as smart.
The following is a headline seen in the last race for Texas governor.
Kay Bailey Hutchison ad pours out headlines casting Gov. Rick Perry as beholden to special interests.
Politi-fact gives her use of the headlines a rating of Mostly True.
???So does mostly true rating from polit-fact have the special interest glass half full or have empty???
A guy who tries to make it the law that all 12 year old girls take a pricey STD drug that is too new to be reliably safe? Thank God EVERYONE else in the Texas government shot that one down before anything bad happened!
I'm surprised that Perry didn't have a "Mission Accomplished" banner hanging in his background.
Let's play write a caption for these two photographs:
Perry: "I told my friends to wear the white hats instead of the hoods; thought it would be a little more prudent politically."
Bush: "How'd you get that C? You musda cheated!"
That I would agree with. The records are quite different, the positions are quite different, and the strategies are quite different.
They just both happen to be from TX.
I'm with Sniffit.
The guy got a C in US History and a D in economics. From Texas A&M !
Not Rice, not Yale, Not Havard, A&M ! Thats not bad mouthing A&M,but c'mon.
How this guy can make those grades at that school, and bad mouth theb President takes some stones.
Despite what he says, Perry is Bush 2.0 From my front row seat here in Texas, this guy is the mirror image of Bush.
Put on some jeans,fall back into a thick howdy-doody Texas drawl and put your boots put up on a bale of hay on the trail......For whatever reason, some people down here eat that stuff up.
All a perry has to do is watch and listen to Perry for a minute or two. His mannerisms,the way he talks, the way he gestures.
I've been saying for the past 5-6 years he's a Bush wannbe. Kind of like Kobe Bryant mimicks Jordan. I mean you can see it without trying with Perry and Bush.
I hope my fellow Americans are smart enough to see through the "awww shucks" put on by Rick Perry.
Not unfair or irrelevant when as recently as last week you were calling Shrub a great president.
This is crap! The GOP better give me some better alternative than four more years of George W. Bush or I'll vote for four more years of Obama.
Easy to tell from all the nasty comments, the Obama supporters are very worried, Perry's gonna kick Obama's behind back to Chicago.
Same village, different idiot.
When offered to taste a sizeable pork tenderloin, he ate the whole thing. (Isn't that special. . .Log Cabin Republican, mayhaps?)
Pork is the other white meat. . .(I say, I said, I say again, Log Cabin Republican?)
Sure, we need another arrogant dolt from Texas running the country. Look how well the last one turned out. If Bush hadn't been selected by the Supreme Court, Perry would be writing parking tickets right now.
I am a Texan, I have seen what Perry has and has not done for Texas. Property taxes are too high and the rankings for healthcare and education are near the bottom of all other States. Perry is a puppet for Karl Rove, among others. He is openly pandering to the right wing, extremists radicals of the Tea Party. Don't be fooled, do your own research.Take a look at his college transcripts for yourself also, google "Rick Perry Bilderberg Istanbut, Turkey". If you think that he is interested in helping anyone but himself, think again.
Sorry, not able to correct, that should be Istanbul, Turkey.
"I wouldn't back up off it an inch." I'm skurd!!!!!
"Go ask your veterans if they would rather see somebody who has never serviced as Commander-in-Chief." Really skurry!!!
Big difference...Bush was liked in Texas unlike the hated Perry.
Just what we need, another nut from Texas.
I wish we had the days that Texas voted for only Democratic Governors.
Unfair to Bush that is.
Not at all alike. Bush parts his hair on the left side, Perry on the right. Tells you somethin'!
Yeah, they're different. Bush may have lacked sophistication, but Perry is way more corrupt. Bush may have had his moments of arrogance, but Perry leaves his criminal activities out in the open for everyone to see. I suppose in Texas, where corruption seems acceptible and is almost never prosecuted, this sort of arrogant criminality is seen as the mark of a true maverick. To the rest of us, it's like watching a mob boss in action.
The twang will remind us of the similarities every day on the campaign trail. With his grades in college, no wonder he switched from Democrat to Republican.
Perry and Bush are not too much alike – both of them were pretty dumb students in college. Bush might have the edge but Perry isn't too bright. Probably a good match up would be Perry and Bachmann or Palin and them we'd have dumb and dumber.
Mr. Perry must have thought very seriously that he will be certainly compared with George Bush before jumping into GOP band wagon. He needs to defend, which is going to be very difficult and an eventual fall.
I was in the military and it doesn't make me any more qualified to lead this country than anyone who wasn't. That's a bunch of hoo hoo. This guy's not impressive at all. He took stimulus money yet slams the government? Is hypocrisy something that the GOP embraces these days?
Voice, looks and hand gustures like Bush's was more than I could handle.
Things I would rather do than live in an America under Rick Perry:
1. Be mocked in a North Korean propaganda film.
2. Scoop up nuclear wast wearing nothing but my underwear.
3. Work as a pork vender in downtown Tehran.
Perry is a Bilderberger boy – attended the exclusive meeting in 2007. Wants the Trans-Texas Highway. Is a water boy for the bankers. Ron Paul has gotten more donations from the U.S. military than all the GOP candidates combined, and even more than President Obama himself, in the last two quarters of fundraising.
perry= bush2.0. he is just another texas repug/teabagger that will make this country worse. people want President Obama to be the miracle worker in 2 1/2 yrs, when they ol' bushy and crazy cheney 8 years.
Bush and Parry both look like monkeys ...
Many may look at Bush and Perry and claim them to be "Dumb & Dumber" but it is my opinion that Perry makes Bush look like a Rhodes Scholar.
The man got a C in US history and a D in economics at Texas A&M. I seem to recall someone else being a C/D student as well...hmmmm....
Averaging 11 credit hours per term, no less! (according to the report card online). At most universities, that's not even considered full time ... what was Parry doing instead?
And if took out loans to pay for his tuition, has he paid them all back?
"The man was truely a Captain in The Air Force & a Fighter Pilot, You cant take that away from him."
We also can't take away the 18-month-long AWOL GW Bush was on ... or that everything he's touched has turned to poop ... or that he didn't have the stones to raise taxes (like Reagan did 11 times) when his two wars and unfunded Medicare Part D turned the Clinton surplus into a deficit ... or that he squandered the world-wide goodwill towards our nation after 9/11 ... or spitting on the Constitution by allowing torture of enemy combatants (heck, he didn't even have the stones to just call them POWs) ...
One of the Right's common slams against President Obama is that "he is arrogant". It seems that they don't mind arrogance so much if it's from a good ol' white boy, eh?
OK, in my last post, I assumed you meant Bush ... my criticisms of him stand. Regarding Parry's military service: That in no way qualifies him to run our country. If we need an old guy to try to fly a plane, maybe we'll give him a call.
End of story.
What's this stupid "have a beer with him" test that supposedly makes a person a good president?
Would you have wanted to have a beer with George Washington or any of the Founders of our country? How about Lincoln? FDR? Eisenhower?
Those men were intelligent and yes, sophisticated. Probably would be called "elitists" by the teabagger/GOP crowd today.
Look folks, having a beer with someone is fine if you want to shoot the breeze about sports or the best lawn fertilizer, but we're talking about the leader of the last super power on earth.
P.S. Just because you're not as bright as someone else, doesn't make them an "elitist."
He should be more worried about the Fred Willard comparisons. Seriously – look what Tina Fey did for Palin.
No wonder the GOP is constantly trying to push the minimum wage down... That's their plan for creating jobs!
Let's see – if we halve the minimum wage, we can DOUBLE the number of people working at Wal-Mart in Texas! Now THAT's success!
Along the same lines, we are now exporting chopsticks made in USA to China, and the Chinese are building our bridges and flaoting them over here on barges...
Can we PLEASE get some candidates who care LESS about religious social conservative zealotry, and MORE about the economy?
Bush and Perry - two peas in a pod!
Perry brushes off Bush comparisons
OMG – they’re two “honey-buns”
"I am Rick Perry and he is George Bush,"
Need I turn around so you can judge up by “our little TUSH?”
"I went to Texas A&M. He went to Yale."
I eat PORK CHOPS and he eats KALE!
"George Bush is not my opponent… He a former president…”
But I promise all of ya’ll I’ll follow him – 100 PERCENT!!!
America – we are in trouble. We need not go back to the BUSH 8 years!!!
The only difference in Perry and Bush is their names.
I'm no fan of Mittens, but if you think that Perry is not a Christian bigot then you are a fool. The .man is a dominionist, and that's no lie! He is not fit to be the president of the U.S.