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Friday, August 19, 2011

Our Handy Guide To The Best Coverage On Gov. Rick Perry And His Record

Rick Perry has made plenty [1] of headlines [2] since he announced his presidential bid. But with the deluge of day-to-day coverage, it’s hard to get a sense of his actual record. We’ve selected some of the best reading on Perry to help you get oriented.

The basics:

If you want to go beyond the bio on Perry's [3] campaign page [3], Texas Monthly reporter Paul Burka’s guide for Yankee journalists [4] is a good place to start. It’s a list of eight insights gleaned from covering Perry since the 1980s, including the ways that Perry has reinvented the role of governor in Texas, and how his rural upbringing has shaped his politics.

Perry is considered one of the most conservative 2012 GOP contenders [5]. An interesting story in the National Review details how Perry is more conservative than his predecessor [6], former President George W. Bush. (The piece also dishes on Perry’s tense relationship with Bush.) Perry is also known for being among the first politicians to embrace the Tea Party movement [7]. Perry believes that homosexuality is wrong and has written about how secular humanism is bad for society [8]. He has expressed skepticism about many Federal government programs and has called Social Security “a Ponzi scheme [9].”

At a rally in 2009, Perry told reporters that Texas might secede if it got [10] too fed up [10] with Washington. Perry’s campaign said this week that Perry does not advocate secession.

The Texas Observer also details Perry’s ties to the New Apostolic Reformation movement [11], a strain of Christian belief in which politics and faith are intertwined.

Perry is also skeptical of evolution. While campaigning in New Hampshire this week, Perry told a 9-year-old boy that evolution is a "theory that’s out there" that’s "got some gaps in it [12].” He also said that Texas public schools teach both evolution and creationism. TPM reports that teaching creationism in public schools was ruled unconstitutional in 1987 [13].  (Updated 8/18)

A 2006 profile in the Dallas Morning News gives us a look at Perry’s early life and how he got into politics [6]. To gain insight into Perry as a campaigner, Texas Monthly interviewed several people who’ve run against him and lost [14]. The Texas Tribune profiles the people in Perry’s inner circle [15].

Overview of his record as governor:

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