Houston Chronicle
By Bill Lambrecht and Bill Diaz
August 6, 2015
Rick
Perry didn't make the main stage in the first GOP presidential debate,
but he seized a moment that was given to him to take aim at Donald Trump
and try to persuade
voters he is ready to be president.
Perry,
as the top-seeded candidate on Fox News' undercard debate, used his
center stage position to take the first shot at Trump, the front-runner
who has dominated the
run-up to the debate.
"When you look at the celebrity of Donald Trump, then I think that says a lot about him," Perry said.
Echoing
his outspoken criticism of Trump on the campaign trail, Perry recalled
that he has "talked about Donald Trump from the standpoint of being an
individual who was
using his celebrity rather than his conservatism."
Perry
singled out the billionaire for his past support for a single-payer,
government health care system, and talked up his own record
strengthening the border with Mexico.
"We need a president that doesn't just talk a good game, but a president that's got real results."
The
former Texas governor and a half-dozen other GOP hopefuls who did not
qualify for the prime time event took part in the hour-long undercard
debate.
'Thoughtful discussion'
Perry
and the others were relegated to second-tier status after placing
outside the top ten contenders in the average of five recent national
polls. Perry (1.8 percent)
placed 11th behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich (3.2 percent) but ahead of the
others on the stage at the early debate.
Perry's
poor showing in recent polling was a significant blow to his campaign
at a time when GOP primary voters and uncommitted donors are focusing
intently on the presidential
campaign.
A
Perry adviser said the initial debate, absent Donald Trump and the
predicted theatrics of the main debate, would provide a forum for "a
thoughtful discussion."
At times it did, on issues ranging from immigration, to Planned Parenthood to the threat of terrorism and the Islamic State.
Also
on stage dubbed the Happy Hour Debate: Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick
Santorum; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; former Hewlett-Packard executive
Carly Fiorina; South
Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham; former New York Gov. George Pataki and
former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.
Early
on, Perry was challenged on his lackluster performance in his first
presidential campaign four years ago, a candidacy that he has
acknowledged he wasn't ready for.
"After
four years, looking back, and being prepared - the preparation to be
the most powerful individual in the world requires an extraordinary
amount of work," he said.
Reagan gaffe?
Though
halting in some of his answers, Perry avoided the sort of debate
pitfall that helped sink his 2012 campaign, although at one point, in
invoking Ronald Reagan, he
appeared to pronounce the former president's name as Ronald Raven.
As
he often does, Perry cited his experience as governor of Texas - the
12th largest economy in the world - where he took credit for adding 1.5
million jobs during the
recession.
"I will suggest to you nobody's done it like Rick Perry has done it over the last eight years," he said.
Perry
and the others condemned the recent deal with Iran aimed at stopping
that nation's nuclear weapons program and criticized the Obama
administration's response to
the spread of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.
Graham
said that any GOP contender unwilling to put troops on the ground in
the fight with ISIS is not suited for the presidency.
"If we don't stop them over there, they are coming here just as sure I stand here in front of you," he said.
Perry said as president he would swiftly tear up the deal with Iran, offering a compliment to Fiorina in the process.
"I would whole lot rather have Carly Fiorina over there doing our negotiation, than John Kerry," he said.
Perry was primed to seize the moment on immigration, one of the strong suits in his campaign.
He
said Americans are tired of the inability to secure the border. In an
unusual slight to Republican icon Reagan, Perry said the problem dates
back to a law Reagan signed
in 1986, which Perry characterized as "amnesty for 4 million people."
"If you elect me president of the United States, I will secure that southern border," he said.
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