Trunkline 2012: Saturday Political News in Review and Cinema Politico Movie of the Week – 10/22/11

• Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) Delivers Weekly Republican Address On GOP Jobs Proposals
• Good News: Biden Doesn’t Rule Out Running for President in 2016
• Nevada blinks and moves its Caucus date back
• Cain’s Stumbles Fuel Doubts on Electability
• Romney criticizes Obama on Iraq
• Mit Messages: Romney calls voters in Nrew Hampshire
• Christine O’Donnell Donates to Romney, Says He Isn’t ‘Getting a Fair Shake’
• Western voters size up GOP field on three big issues while Nevada gives Herman Cain the nod
• George Soros Funds Occupy Wall Street
• Independent group supporting Obama gives a peak at Obama’s strategy if he runs against Mitt Romney
• How Others Have Tried To Make the Case Against Rick Perry.  Watch the video.
• Saturday Night Politics at  White House 2012′s Cinema Politico:  This Saturday night’s political movie pick…….CONVENTIONEERS

This slightly comedic romance details the relationship between two people on the opposite ends of the political spectrum. Taking place during the course of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, a Republican man meets back up with a Liberal woman he knew in college. The two begin to fall in love, even though they each have trouble reconciling this new personal passion with their political passion. The tension each feels is exacerbated when a friend of the young woman reveals that he is going to be in apposition to disrupt the President’s speech at the convention. The film was shot on location during the actual 2004 Republican Convention, leading to the arrest of some of the filmmakers when they ended up capturing some of their footage without permission.  The flick really isn’t that good, but its different and if you’re reading this site, you’re probably the type who can’t pass up a movie dealing with politics, the Republican National Convention and a conservative vs. liberal ideological clash.

It stars, Matthew Mabe, Woodwyn Koons, Alek Friedman, Alicia Harding, and  Jennifer Brown.

How Others Have Tried To Make the Case Against Rick Perry

     Rick Perry is currently the longest serving Governor in the nation.  He is also the only person to have ever been elected Governor of Texas three times. Such distinguishing accomplishments are not achieved by luck.  He has to be doing something right.  At the same time you can’t spend over a quarter of a decade in politics and half of that time as the Governor of a state, without making some enemies and some mistakes and no enemies.  However in Perry’s case, it is quite obvious that he still has more friends than enemies in Texas .

When George W. Bush stepped down as Governor to assume the presidency of the United States, Lt. Governor Rick Perry took his place and in 2002 he ran for Governor in his own right. Perry proceeded to handily beat millionaire South Texas businessman Tony Sanchez by a margin of 58% to 40% and that was even after Sanchez spent $75 million of his own money in the race.

By 2006,  Perry was plagued by budget woes, embroiled in battles over school financing reform, and on the receiving end of a controversial and contentious redistricting battle. His approval rating had dropped to 38% during the latter part of the 2005 legislative session and by September of 2006 it had improved but still found Perry in the red with 44% of Texans approving of him compared to 51% disapproving of him.

In that election, Democrat Chris Bell ran an aggressive campaign that relied on uniting Democrats into a coalition that would win a plurality by seeing a divided Republican vote splinter itself among Perry, the G.O.P. nominee and several Independent candidates who were mounting strong campaigns.  One of which included the  State Comptroller of Public Accounts, Republican Carole Keeton Strayhorn.  The strategy did not work.  In the end Perry won but with only less than 40% of the total vote.  A result that made Rick Perry the first person elected to the Lone Star state’s executive office with less than 40% since 1861.

Then in 2010, Perry faced a significant challenge for the Republican gubernatorial nomination from incumbent U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.  Despite many powerful negatives to campaign against Perry with, Hutchison didn’t even leave much of mark on Perry and lost the primary with 30.03 % of the vote to Perry’s 51.1%.  He won the primary handily and went on to defeat his Democrat opponent, former Houston mayor Bill White.  But that race did not always look like it would be very easy for Perry.    At one point the highly respected Charlie Cook of the Cook Report moved the Texas governor’s race from the “leaning Republican” column and placed it in the “toss up” side of the ledger.  But Perry wound up besting White with 54.97% of the vote to White’s 42.28%.

So how did Perry do it?

Well in 2010, Perry successfully shut out Kay Bailey Hutchison with a, “if you think I’m bad, wait till you see her” strategy that painted Hutchison, a three term incumbent in the U.S. Senate, as the ultimate Washington insider.  And in the general election, Perry ran as the ultimate conservative in one of the most ultimately conservative states in the nation.  In his 2010 victory speech, Perry stated that Texans were tired of big government raising taxes and added  “I am genuinely optimistic that we’re one day closer to seeing fiscal conservative approaches applied at the national level as well,”  and then he told the audience who earlier that same evening saw nearly 80 new Republicans get elected to Congress that he wanted to “challenge those new faces in Washington to press for change sooner than later”.  He added “I want them to go in there and really go to work.”  Now, a year later, and Rick Perry is trying to go Washington to make sure that they do just that.

But the question still remains if he is the right person for the job.

While Rick Perry’s natural Texas swagger helps to emphasize his conservative language, there are plenty of potent arguments to challenge the authenticity of his conservatism.  They are questions which although they did not keep him  from getting elected in Texas, could help create quite a negative and damaging impression of Perry among conservatives in places like Iowa, South Carolina, Utah Montana, Wyoming, and Florida.

Here is just a brief look at how Rick Perry’s opponents shaped the case against Perry in the recent past.  We will see how effectively people like Cain, Romney, Bachmann and others may be able to do it in the near future.

Congressman, Senator or President? Ron Paul Discusses His Political Options

In a recent interview, syndicated radio talk show host Alex Jones talked with Texas Congressman Ron Paul about the Congressmans political future. Will he be running for reelection to Congress? Will he seek to replace retiring Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison? Or will he use 2012 to run a third campaign for President of the United States?

Below is a video clip of that interview. In it, Alex Jones gushes with a level of praise so profuse, that Congressman Paul can hardly get a word in edgewise, but in between Jones attempt to make the decision for the Congressman, Ron Paul offers a sincere description of his thinking process and the stage he is currently at in the decision making process.

Paul also promises that no matter what he does, he knows that he cant imagine himself not being actively engaged in the cause in one way or another.

Despite the Congressman’s remarks, recent reports claim that Ron Paul believes a presidential run is his most viable option. Of course for him, it is more viable than most. Unlike most others in the House, he would not have step down from his seat in Congress. Texas law permits him to be on the ballot both as candidate for the for the presidential nomination and the House of Representatives. Most others have to choose between one or the other.