Anita Perry: The Next First Lady?

By Allah Palooza

Anita Perry, wife of Texas Governor Rick Perry

Some of us have already started wondering (and even hoping) about who the next First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) will be. Most of us are thinking that Michelle Obama won’t be getting another four years, and that just about anyone else would be an immense improvement.

With the critical 2012 election still more than a year away and Texas Governor Rick Perry surging in popularity among Republicans, Governor Perry’s wife, Anita Thigpen Perry, came to Pinellas County Saturday night, September 17th, to be the keynote speaker at the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC) Reagan Day Dinner.

According to her official biography, Anita Perry is a native Texan from Haskell. Mrs. Perry earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from West Texas State University, now West Texas A&M University, and a master’s degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. She worked as a nurse for 17 years in surgery, pediatrics, intensive care, administration and teaching. She and Gov. Perry have been married for almost 30 years and have two grown children. She has been a strong partner with her husband, who presently is the longest-serving governor in the history of Texas, and she has been actively involved in supporting a variety of economic initiatives and innovations in her home state.

So, is Anita Perry ready for prime-time, in the sense of filling her place on the national and international stage, should her husband become the next President of the United States?

If her Reagan Day speech is an accurate measure of her talents and abilities, she has great promise but still has some work to do.

Anita Perry is a good person, and goes out of her way to make those around her feel comfortable. She is sincere, down-to earth (unlike the current FLOTUS), and very family-oriented. She devoutly believes in her husband and shares traditional American values. She is smart, and did an excellent job setting out her husband’s record as a jobs creator. She was, however, a bit too folksy, spoke about five minutes longer than she should have, told the audience too little about her husband, and had some difficulty wrapping up her speech. Yet, it was refreshing to listen to a  person speaking from the heart who connects with ordinary people, and who shows neither aloofness nor a desire to take on the trappings of elitist condescension. I, like many others in the room, went away from her speech hoping that she will be the one measuring the drapes in the White House in January 2013.

Mrs. Perry’s speech in its entirety may be viewed in the following video [Courtesy PCREC]:

Congressman Bill Young to Run Again in 2012

By Spartacus Thrace

(September 18, 2011) It looks like United States Congressman C.W. “Bill” Young (R-Fla.) will be running for re-election in 2012.

State Senator Jack Latvala (R-St. Petersburg) made the announcement as he was introducing Congressman Young before a crowd of hundreds of wildly enthusiastic Republican activists at last night’s Reagan Day Dinner at the Marriott St. Petersburg.  The dinner is an annual fundraising event put on by the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC).

The money quote came at about the 4:23 mark in Latvala’s six-minute introduction of Young, when he made the somewhat oddly-worded statement:

And you know some of the best news that I’ve had in the past few weeks is when it became apparent to me that [Young is] preparing to run again.

Sen. Latvala’s remarks in their entirety can be seen in the following video [Courtesy PCREC]:

Young, for his part, appeared aged but unbowed and looked to be in remarkably better health than he did when he last addressed the PCREC at its Lincoln Day Dinner in February (another annual fundraiser put on by the PCREC).  Among other remarks, Young told his audience that he had undergone back surgery, spent almost three months in the hospital, and had lost 50 pounds in weight and four inches in height (he used to be about as tall as Ronald Reagan) as a result of parts of his spine being fused.  Although he walked slowly and with a thick cane, his mind appeared to be as sharp as ever.  His remarks, which perhaps comprise his first campaign speech of the 2012 election season, can be viewed in their entirety in the following video [Courtesy PCREC]:

Rep. Young has been in public service as an elected official for more than half a century.  He is considered by the pundits to be unbeatable in 2012, even at this early stage in the election season, barring a sudden decline in his health.  The backstory of this announcement of his plans to run for his twenty-second term in Congress is that the throng of those who have long hoped and planned to take Young’s place when he leaves the political scene (Sen. Latvala is among these) did not get the news they had hoped for and will have to bide their time a bit longer.  Some predict that if Young’s exit is not a “controlled crash” guided by political insiders, it will trigger one of the biggest political brawls in the history of Pinellas County politics.

George LeMeiux Campaign Speech at the PCREC

(June 13, 2011) Candidate for United States Senator from Florida George LeMeiux brought his campaign to the June meeting of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC). LeMeiux, who briefly served in the Senate after being appointed by then-Governor Charlie Crist to complete the term of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Florida) after Martinez vacated the seat, laid out for his audience why he thinks he is the best qualified candidate to defeat Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida) in 2012. This is what he said:

(Video courtesy PCREC)

More information about George LeMeiux and his candidacy can be found at his campaign website, linked to here.

Gus Bilirakis Predicts 50-Seat Gain for Republicans in Midterms

Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.)

By Le Corbeaunoir

(October 11, 2010 @ 10:00 PM) — Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), representing Florida’s 9th District in the United States House of Representatives, spoke in plain, blunt terms in his 15-minute address to the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee (PCREC) this evening:  The first and enduring task of a Republican-controlled House will be the reversal of the socialist agenda of the Obama Administration.  Repeal of Obamacare, according to Bilirakis, will be the Republicans’ highest priority, and the process will entail piece by piece dismantling and defunding.  For the scores of Republican faithful in attendance, the speech was pure gold.

The crowd of Republican activists was enthusiastically receptive to the Congressman’s message. Citing the “energy in the room,” Bilirakis went on to invoke New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as a positive example of what Republicans can accomplish even in areas of the country dominated by the Democrats.  The Congressman called on the Republicans in the room to make a difference in the upcoming elections and to hold the anticipated new Republican majority in Congress accountable.