I was at the Iowa State Fair today and caught Rick Perry's speech. He started talking about this stupid new regulation that would require farmers to get commercial drivers licenses if they drive their tractors across the road.
I don't want somebody sitting in the front left seat of the airliner that just got their pilot's license,” he said. “I want an experienced individual as the president of United States from the standpoint of a chief executive officer.”
Perry supporters highlighted his Air Force experience before he even announced, with lobbyist and former Perry aide Dan Shelley establishing two veteran-based organizations to independently boost his campaign.
“One of the powerful reasons that I'm running for the presidency of the United States is to make sure that every young man and woman who puts on the uniform of this country respects highly the president of the United States,” Perry said Sunday in Waterloo.
Asked Monday whether that means he believes President Barack Obama isn't respected, Perry said, “No, I think the military men and women — you need to go ask them — I think the military men and women respect the commander in chief regardless of who it is.
“I think they'd really like to see a person who's worn the uniform in that office, and I think that's just a true statement. I wouldn't back up off of it an inch. Go ask your veterans if they'd rather see somebody who's never served, as the commander in chief.”
Among those in Sunday's audience was retired Army Capt. Allen B. Clark of Dallas, who lost his legs to a mortar attack in Vietnam. He's in Iowa to promote the governor's campaign as part of the Veterans for Perry group.
“I believe very much in Rick Perry as my governor and as a future commander in chief,” Clark said.
Perry — who is competing with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann for social conservative and tea party votes, and is seen as a threat to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the early frontrunner — is in the midst of an intense campaign swing.
He plans to be in one of the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina through Saturday.
Perry gave a flat “no,” however, to the idea of resigning his state job in light of his new effort.
“I love the job that I'm doing. I'm doing it quite well,” Perry said. “Why in the world would I want to do that?”
Part of Perry's job in Iowa is to ensure that voters don't hold his Saturday announcement in South Carolina against him, since it took some of the spotlight from Saturday's straw poll in Ames. He acknowledged he might need to smooth some feelings.
“I'm going to do my best to make up to anybody in Iowa that's got their nose out of joint or feel like we kind of stepped on the show,” he said. “From my perspective, it looked to me like it was the front page of every newspaper and the lead story on all the news was what was going on in Iowa, as it should be.”
To that end, Perry politicked his way through the state fair. He sampled treats including an egg on a stick, a pork chop on a stick and a vegetarian corn dog (on the traditional stick). He greeted voters who were ready to listen and got in the way of those who weren't.
“He's not my candidate anyway,” said one evidently annoyed woman who veered around the Perry presidential campaign roadblock on her way into the fair grounds.
Perry also talked to receptive fair-goers, including Ruth Knobler, who gave her age as 83½ and stopped to talk to the Texas governor about creating jobs for young people.
“I've been a Democrat my whole life,” she told him, adding to reporters later she had never voted for a Republican but she was impressed with Perry.
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