Perry for Prez in '12? '16?

Governor Rick Perry hasn't announced it yet, but he's dropping hints left and right that, when taken as a whole, point to bigger plans beyond the Texas Governorship. He's most likely to break records for number of terms as Governor in the state of Texas, but recent policy and political shifts seems to indicate he plans to follow in the footsteps of George Bush to national policymaking.

The 2008 presidential election season started earlier than ever, and so far has been breaking all manner of records. Without a clear leader, Governor Perry has chosen to endorse Rudy Giuliani for the Republican ticket. In a state without a record of Giuliani's liberal-mixed policy, Perry's endorsement of Giuliani seems queer, considering there are several candidates besides Giuliani that appear to align with the Governor's policy record. Perhaps Perry is more populist, or (gasp) even liberal than his public steering lets on, but I would consider it equally likely (or equally effective) that he's vying for national legitimacy.

The position of Governor in Texas is very different from that of other states. Essentially, it's the Crown of England to the Lieutenant Governor's Prime Minister. The Governorship in Texas seems to be acquainted with a very hands-off, or perhaps just narrowly-focused policy set, meant really for handling sweeping disasters (I wouldn't doubt that some part of Perry wishes he could claim Hurricane Rita as his 9/11,) but otherwise out of the way of the grindstone of the bureaucracy or congress. It appears that the Governorship best for grooming future Presidents.

Perry sure does seem to be pushing Prop 15 hard, the 3 billion dollar appropriation to cancer research (and half as much in interest) that was pushed through by the Lance Armstrong's yellow band bloc. I don't know about you, but I was never aware that Texas cared so much about health care? The incongruity between public health policy in Texas and this (as well as the HPV vaccine that Perry unconstitutionally pushed through earlier this year) paint a picture of a man who is trying to appear more moderate than his record would indicate. When combined with his soaring (if lethargic) public support, the only solution is Perrys' bid for the national spotlight sometime in the future, hopefully in the footsteps of Bush (and LBJ?)