I'm sure I'm not the only one who was a little surprised. As the highest ranking Republican in the state, it's kind of bitchy to step on what's supposed to be a fellow Republican's good news night. And many of Nevada's Republican elected officials (and activists) have already glommed onto Mitt Romney.
And no, Sandoval endorsing Perry had nothing to do with Perry being the chair of the Republican Governor's Association because Perry was not chair while Sandoval was running for office in 2010. And even if he was, Mitt Romney was chair of the RGA when Sarah Palin was elected governor of Alaska in 2006. Quite a bit of RGA resources were devoted to the race (some illegally) and Mitt even traveled to Alaska to meet with Palin. How did she repay him? By voting for Mike Huckabee in the 2008 Republican primary and taking several swipes at poor Mittens this go around. Being RGA chair has little to do with loyalty later on.
But what's more important is who exactly has Governor Sandoval just endorsed. The press release Sandoval sent out was full of GOP talking points that would probably get a "pants on fire" from one of those fact-checking websites.
So who is the real Rick Perry? Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington rated Perry as one of 11 governors "who pride their self-interests over their states'." Describing Perry as "unethical" and "incompetent".
What did Perry do that's so bad? Take a look:
[And just a side note, on CREW's list is Haley Barbour and Mark Sanford, RGA co-chairs when Sandoval was ran in 2010, and Sandoval's predecessor Jim Gibbons.]
And another great website, meetrickperry.com gives a rundown of Perry's achievements that Sandoval thought worthy of endorsing:
The insider game of what Sandoval's endorsement means--what it means for Perry, what it means for Nevada and what is means for Romney--is inconsequential. The questions that should be asked are what does Brian Sandoval want for Nevada? His endorsement shows he wants the federal government to make it rain on Nevada. Brian Sandoval wants Nevadans to be employed but only at or slightly above minimum wage jobs with no benefits. Brian Sandoval wants to kill Nevadans who break the law, including juveniles and the mentally disabled. Brian Sandoval wants to force your tween to be vaccinated but won't allow your family to make their own decisions when it comes to family planning.
Brian Sandoval didn't endorse Rick Perry because they're buddies. He endorsed him because he felt his policies and record as governor of Texas would be good for the United States. If that doesn't have you second-guessing the "Governor Sunny" persona, you're hopeless.
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Yep, I spelled governor wrong
