Rick Perry: Texas Gaullist

I’m sure Karl Rove is, on this at least, correct: Rick Perry’s book will cause him problems for as long as he remains in the race for the Republican nomination. To put it gently, few Americans believe that Social Security and many other federal programmes are unconstitutional; even fewer are likely to vote for a candidate who was on record, as recently as last year, suspecting that they might be and that these matters were properly the purview of the 50 states, not Washington.

So it will be interesting to see how, if at all, Perry is attacked in tonight’s debate*. There is no shortage of large-bore ammunition. Against that, a book titled Fed Up! pretty accurately captures the mood in the United States even if disgruntled voters might differ from Perry on any number of specific issues. On the larger question of Happy vs Mad As Hell he may be closer than the President to the people.

Nevertheless, there’s enough in Perry’s record to annoy just about every part of the Republican coalition. How could there not be given that Governor Perry has spent so little time as an actual Republican? Let me explain. Perry was once a Democrat but that don’t matter much; he was a Texas Democrat and we all know that’s a different breed. No, the thing is that for the last decade Perry has, effectively, been a Texas nationalist.

If you think of Perry in this light then many of the apparent contradictions in his record begin to fit together. And it makes a difference that he’s the Governor of Texas, not any other state. Perhaps only the Governor of Alaska and the Mayor of New York City occupy offices that are so self-contained. That is, they are the places that have an identity – and a swagger – that sets them apart from the rest of the United States. Each, in their very different ways, could plausibly be thought of as an independent state (or state of mind) in ways that, say, Kansas or Tennessee do not quite reach. 

So when Perry jokes about seceding from the Union, he’s making a statement about Texas just as much as he is complaining about Washington. Similarly, when he talks about repealing the 17th Amendment (ie, the direct election of Senators) he’s talking about something that a) won’t happen but b) if it did would tie the Senate still closer to the interests of the 50 states. That is, it would reassert the primacy of a long-lost federalism that, implicitly but also substantively, makes the states Top Dogs and restricts Washington to certain enumerated powers. Again, this is less a practical policy and more an expression of state-based, Texas-sized sentiment.

Remember too that Texas has to all intents and purposes become a one-party state and the Governor’s job is to be head of the Texas Party. Think of him – if you can wrap your mind around the comparison – as a Texan kind of Eamon de Valera. If that’s too strange for you then consider Perry as a Texas Gaullist. All governors have something of this, of course, but the particulars of Texan history and identity make it a more powerful force in Austin than such small-n nationalism can ever be in Knoxville Nashville [edit] or Harrisburg or Olympia. L’etat, c’est moi and all that.

That helps explain – as Erica Grieder shows – why Perry can be a social conservative but take a risk on the HPV vaccine. That’s why he can seem to share some aspects of the Tea Party agenda while also acting as a standard corporatist Governor. It’s why he can blast Washington but accept great dollops of Federal largesse. It’s why – because it is Good for Texas – he can be more relaxed about immigration than most (though not quite all) Republicans who aspire to national office. Similarly, he can decry global warming but be a booster for renewable energy because, again, this is Good for Texas.

It’s why, in fact, Perry’s campaign is mainly the result of a moment of opportunity rather than the product of any long-held aspiration for national office. (This latter aspect, mind you, makes one wonder how effectively he can make the leap from Texas, big place though it is, to the continental stage.)

Again, there’s plenty here to antagonise most parts of the conservative coalition. But if the United States and France are more alike than they often like to admit then Texas is, if you like, the France of the United States. This is not a matter or policy or even, necessarily, of outcomes, but a question of a state of mind and, consequently, a certain idea of Texas. This seems reflected in their governor’s contradictions but I suggest Rick Perry makes plenty of sense if you view him as a Texas Gaullist. Though, then again, it might make him too French to be the nominee…

*UK readers or anyone else without access to MSNBC may be interested to know that Politico will be live-streaming the debate.