No, really.
UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers. And Campaign Spot readers.
The New Ledger sat down with Governor Rick Perry a few weeks ago, and in the course of talking about Perry’s success (and his working principles of governing) came this exchange:
TNL: …do you think Republicans will win if they embrace that sort of approach in other states with all their challenges? And what does that look like?
Perry: Well, look at a state like Virginia, where Bob [McDonnell] just won by doing something very similar. He said we’re going to stop spending irresponsibly, we’re going to cut taxes, we’re going to encourage and enable those who risk their capital — job creators — and having what I would describe as a progressive energy policy, where he’s going to drill offshore in a way that’s environmentally sensitive and happens to be supported by his two Democratic senators.
That’s all pretty simple. These are not complex things — they’re challenging, but they’re straightforward. It’s not about understanding what you need to do as much as it is about having the courage to do it.
You look at a state like California. There are going to be some really tough decisions that have to be made to save that state. If Jerry Brown gets up and says “I’ve figured out a way to make this less painful,” well, here, smoke this — because at the end of the day, it’s going to be painful. Because that’s a state that has for too long made the easy decisions instead of the hard decisions.
If you are a state that has just said yes all the time to everything, there is a comeuppance, a day of reckoning for you. It’s right now.
It’s ‘right now’ in New Jersey, too. Continue reading Texas and New Jersey: perfect together.
