I spent the night chatting with a bunch of bloggers and Perry staff... all a bunch of dolls, and plan on interviewing a campaign member on this Friday's show. The press presence was huge, the crowd was jazzed, the food was delicious, and the bar was open. God bless Texas.
A fellow blogger/reveler did a great job at describing the night, however... so I offer up her take on the event. Great gal.
Election night: legendary BBQ, legendary governor
Written by Linda Freeman
DRIFTWOOD - It could hardly get any more Texas than Governor Rick Perry’s primary election night party at the legendary Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, about 25 miles southwest of Austin and the capitol building Perry still hopes to govern. Believe it or not, Driftwood was already on the map thanks to the Salt Lick before Perry, a few thousand of his friends, and a media entourage took over "the pavilion" to await returns in Tuesday's primary vote.
While waiting the bloggers blogged, the reporters reported, the beer flowed and the brisket and beans more than satisfied. Nothing left to do but top it all off with ice cream on peach or blackberry cobbler and wait around for the victory speech. Perry won handily over GOP opponents Kay Bailey Hutchison and Debra Medina, so no surprises there. But it sure was a great excuse for a party and another opportunity for Perry to talk Texas swagger to the voters, the media, and the politicians checking in from the nation's capitol.
After a few brief introductions - and a slightly flubbed patriotic song rendition by an American Idol contestant from Texas - Governor Perry's wife, Anita, introduced her husband as "a man who thinks all day about Texas, a man who dreams about Texas, a man who wakes up and wonders what he can do to make Texas a better place...for our children and our grandchildren." Governor Perry took the stage and - after acknowledging Kay Bailey Hutchison's congratulatory phone call - enjoyed himself immensely, as usual, talking about his favorite subjects: Texas, Texans, and Washington, DC. Here are some of the more memorable lines from the ever-quotable governor's primary election night remarks:
"There are plenty of people who thought (last year’s presidential election) was a final nail in the coffin of conservatism. But there have been a string of victories lately - in NJ, VA, MA - and now there’s been a victory in TX!"
"From Driftwood, Texas, to Washington, DC, we're sending a message to you tonight: Stop messing with Texas!"
"We’re not doing fancy stuff down here but it's working."
"We gotta stay attuned to the threat of a federal government that keeps trying to overreach, overspend, and overdraw our children's and grandchildren's bank accounts."
"It is clear that the Obama administration and their allies aleady have Texas in their crosshairs. I can assure you, we're going to get all kinds of special attention down here in the future."
Perry - well on his way to an unprecedented third term as governor of Texas - closed his remarks with a call for the US government to "retreat to the boundaries set by the 10th amendment." Needless to say, that left the crowd calling for "four more years" for Perry. And unless his democrat opponent for governor - Bill White - can top that type of "Don't Mess with Texas" sentiment, voters aren't likely to send Perry packing in November.
Follow Freeman's blog at: http://freemanspeaks.wordpress.com
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