Presidential hopeful Rick Perry said Wednesday it is important for America to be able to distinguish between Republican candidates and the GOP nominee in 2012 cannot be “Obama-Lite.” Perry’s comments Wednesday to Fox News’ Sean Hannity were a clear reference to fellow candidate Mitt Romney.
Hannity began the interview by asking Perry whether his differences with Romney are personal.
"It looks like things are getting heated — the last couple of debates . . . between you and Governor Romney — is it personal or is it business?” Hannity asked. Perry replied he was trying to stand out from the field.
“I just think it’s important for the people of America and certainly in the Republican primary, to see the clear differences that the candidates have and we need to nominate someone who will have a stark, clear difference between the Republican nominee and President Obama,” the Texas governor said. “And I think I am that person who can clearly delineate the differences. We don’t need to nominate ‘Obama-lite’ — we don’t need to nominate someone who’s going to blur the lines between Obama and our nominee.”
“This election is about the future of America and who’s going to get America back working again — and I think I can handle that part of the job creation side of it as well as anyone who’s going to be on that stage tomorrow night,” said Perry, referring to the GOP debate Thursday, sponsored by Fox News and Google.
Perry then compared the healthcare plan Romney started in Massachusetts to Obamacare and said it delineates a prime example of a similarity with President Barack Obama. He added that Romney’s healthcare plan was not good for the state.
“When you take a look at what Mitt did from the standpoint of Romneycare in Massachusetts, you’re going to have a hard time finding a difference between Obamacare and Romneycare,” Perry said. “I mean that’s just the facts and there’s no way around it — the facts are the facts.”
Perry also did not back off from calling Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” — a comparison he made at a previous debate — saying unless the benefit for seniors is reformed, it will fail to deliver for young people who are now paying into the system.
“I think Americans appreciate people being honest and upfront with them about Social Security,” Perry said.
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