# What has Rick Perry done to alienate conservatives **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 21, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009 "2011-09-21T00:35:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/81 "2011-09-27T21:38:41Z")
> [@AbloyProtec](#): > > Plus, he killed a coyote with a pistol. > > EDIT: It was a coyote, not a wolf. > [@gonzomax](#): > > How did a coyote get a pistol? The coyote had it because the TSA took away his nail clippers. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/82 "2011-09-27T21:54:13Z")
He shot the coyote in his jogging clothes. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/83 "2011-09-27T22:12:55Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > He shot the coyote in his jogging clothes. How it got into his jogging clothes is a far more sordid and interesting story. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/84 "2011-09-27T22:20:41Z")
Come on you guys. You don’t really think letting Texas secede is a bad idea. I could easily see some of you going door to door in that state collecting signatures! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/85 "2011-09-28T03:45:41Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So who is viewed as a conservative in Texas? > > Was W? > > Wait, what?! Watchoo got against [it?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Texas_Corridor) Too expensive? (You do know, don’t you, that it has nothing at all to do with immigration or border security or a “NAFTA Superhighway”?) I wasn’t in Texas while W was Gov. However, IMHO, he was not a conservative as President. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/86 "2011-09-28T13:59:08Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > I wasn’t in Texas while W was Gov. However, IMHO, he was not a conservative as President. So who **is** viewed as a conservative in Texas? And, again, what have you got against the Trans-Texas Corridor? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/87 "2011-09-28T15:32:47Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So who **is** viewed as a conservative in Texas? > > And, again, what have you got against the Trans-Texas Corridor? Don’t ask me to explain the minds of Texas Conservatives. The Trans-Texas Corridor was disliked by just about everybody except Perry. Too much property would have been appropriated as eminent domain: onservatives complained. The great swathes of land taken would have divided ecosystems: Environmentalists complained. A Spanish company would have done much of the work & then charged tolls (unlike toll roads in which the public helped support a public-funded project; anyway, toll roads are less common here than in some parts of the country): We all went, WTF? Even-handed discussion [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Texas_Corridor). > [@](#): > > In spite of public complaints–and both the 2006 platforms of the Texas Republican and Democratic parties opposing the plan–Governor Rick Perry continued to support the TTC. > > The TTC had the strong support of the Perry-appointed five-member Texas Transportation Commission, which was headed by the governor’s close friend and former state legislative colleague, Ric Williamson, until Williamson’s sudden death from a heart attack on December 30, 2007. From some of the extensive coverage by those commie-pinkos at the [Texas Observer](http://www.texasobserver.org/archives/item/15043-2444-political-intelligence-la-vida-loca)\*: > [@](#): > > The recent report from the State Auditor’s Office on the Trans-Texas Corridor is a road map to a potential disaster. The Transportation Department’s records on the multi-corridor network are so incomplete and inaccurate that it’s impossible to come up with a reliable estimate of what the ultimate price tag will be. TXDOT incorrectly allocated costs to the corridor that should have been allocated to other projects, excluded indirect costs, and did not have a way to link tasks performed to the hours billed. (For example, $52,000 of a $628,000 invoice charged to engineering was actually for public relations expenses. No doubt that was an innocent error, but it’s worth pointing out that TXDOT’s catching heat from lawmakers for the millions spent on “public outreach.”) - I’m a subscriber… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/88 "2011-09-28T16:21:53Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Don’t ask me to explain the minds of Texas Conservatives. … They would never believe you. Years and years ago, some of us lefties would wait with bated breath for the Texas Republican Party Platform to be released, and it never failed to amuse and entertain. Gold standard! US out of the UN! Repeal everything but the 2nd Amendment! Death penalty for pot! Deport Willy Nelson! I printed out a copy and circulated it at work here in the People’s Republic of Minnesota. They swore I was making it up! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/89 "2011-09-28T16:30:44Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Don’t ask me to explain the minds of Texas Conservatives. > > The Trans-Texas Corridor was disliked by just about everybody except Perry. Too much property would have been appropriated as eminent domain: onservatives complained. The great swathes of land taken would have divided ecosystems: Environmentalists complained. A Spanish company would have done much of the work & then charged tolls (unlike toll roads in which the public helped support a public-funded project; anyway, toll roads are less common here than in some parts of the country): We all went, WTF? Even-handed discussion [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Texas_Corridor). > > From some of the extensive coverage by those commie-pinkos at the [Texas Observer](http://www.texasobserver.org/archives/item/15043-2444-political-intelligence-la-vida-loca)\*: > > - I’m a subscriber… Hmmm . . . Does this suggest that, as POTUS, Perry would be likely to support huge, expensive public infrastructure projects, even against strong political opposition? Because there might be some upsides to that. But it’s no way to get the Tea Party vote. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009/90 "2011-09-28T16:38:07Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Hmmm . . . Does this suggest that, as POTUS, Perry would be likely to support huge, expensive public infrastructure projects, even against strong political opposition? > > Because there might be some upsides to that. But it’s no way to get the Tea Party vote. That particular huge, expensive public infrastructure project was a bit too privatized to appeal to me. Who was raised to hallow the memory of FDR! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-rick-perry-done-to-alienate-conservatives/597009.md?page=4)