It’s unfortunate the Republican candidate for president that most reminds me of my father may soon be out of the 2016 GOP primary race. In contrast to the last time he ran, Rick Perry’s campaign started slow and then began to taper off.
Perry has pulled his campaign completely out of New Hampshire, and for a while his staffers in Austin, Texas were working without paychecks. This is symptomatic of a campaign on life support with the plug being held in the socket by hope alone.
Perry’s plight is a case of the record being much stronger than the campaign, particularly with voters fed up with expensive leftist big government schemes.
Americans for Tax Reform recently did a study on the number of citizens that have fled high–tax states run into the ground by Democrat governors. Not surprisingly these economic tax refugees are taking their productivity to states with lower taxes and smaller government. (There is a lesson in here for Washington immigration apologists, but I’m sure it will be ignored.)
As ATR said, “People move away from high tax states to low tax states. Every tax refugee is sending a powerful message to politician. They are voting with their feet.”
And the state that attracted more tax refugees in 2013 than the next four states combined was none other than Texas, the state governed for 14 years by none other than Rick Perry. The former governor was notorious in my high–tax state of California for running radio ads urging businesses to bring their productivity to Texas.
He even made tours around the state touting Texas. Rick Perry was so effective he almost drove Democrats in Sacramento to do the unthinkable and embrace strict border enforcement — between California and Texas.
In 2013 alone, 47,458 California residents, representing $3.8 billion in adjusted gross income, left the state for greener pastures and lower taxes. Texas’ total inflow of citizens moving internally in the U.S. for that year was 152,912 new Texans who represented $6 billion in AGI.
Obviously, Perry can communicate with Americans worried about taxes and limited opportunity under Democrats, so why can’t he reach Republican primary voters?
Personally I think his difficulties this year are a hangover from his disastrous campaign in 2012 that will be forever characterized by a single word: Oops. Too confident, too optimistic and too Texan, Rick Perry didn’t prepare enough for a test that evidently voters will only allow you to fail once.
Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan. He is president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation and chairman of the League of American Voters. Mike is an in-demand speaker with Premiere. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.