The new Rick Perry

“You’ll want to try the corn chowder,” said the tall, handsome Texan with an approving nod, hanging discreetly with a few old veterans in the corner at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Littleton, N.H., last month. It took a few seconds to recognize that it was former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R). He blended comfortably into the crowd, possibly at the best early forum in America to hear a candidate speak; a place of earthy, respectful, old-hill Yankees, plain folk in the best sense, who had served in military in a place old and far away; an archaic American minority, perhaps.

There were only 30 or so of us on hand. I’d heard Perry address a student gathering at Dartmouth College a few months before, which is only a two-hour drive, but a world apart. At Dartmouth, Perry was the archetypal governor of the most important state in the country today, alert and first off the mark, as he was in December 2008 — still during George W. Bush’s presidency — when he penned an essay in The Wall Street Journal which in hindsight might be seen as an anthem for governors since:

As governors and citizens, we’ve grown increasingly concerned over the past weeks as Washington has thrown bailout after bailout at the national economy with little to show for it. In the process, the federal government is not only burying future generations under mountains of debt. It is also taking our country in a very dangerous direction — toward a “bailout mentality” where we look to government rather than ourselves for solutions.

Today, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) leads 26 states in a 10th Amendment challenge to President Obama over his executive action on immigration, for Obama’s “lawless trampling on the Constitution.” Before Perry brought it up, it had not occurred to the nation’s governors to use this inherent, constitutional authority to challenge federal authority. Now it constitutes best practices for many governors.

{mosads}But the Perry in the New Hampshire veterans hall was the soft-spoken fifth-generation rancher from Paint Creek, Texas, baptized in the same creek as Sam Houston, whose relaxed demeanor suggested a Buddy Ebsen sidekick tending the horses back home on the Texas plains.

This is the once and future Rick Perry. Very different than the Perry who came to us in 2012; simplified and authentic. The last presented a Texas political persona; to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, a face prepared to meet the faces he would meet. This is the true item.

And in the nick of time because, as of today, just this past week, two issues have arisen which possibly only Perry can solve. The first concern is the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Since early March, much of the world, following Britain’s lead, has flocked to the new China bank, abandoning America’s initiatives and leaving America alone between the oceans in splendid isolation. But Perry has long proposed first a close, original relationship in economy and culture between three North American countries — Canada, the United States and Mexico — modeling a different kind of starting place for a new, rising North American century.

The second thing is that, according to reports, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) is rising in the polls this week. We have also learned whom his sidekick will be: James A. Baker III. Baker was George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff and secretary of State. He also orchestrated the controversial Florida recount in 2000 for George W. Bush. He also chaired the Iraq Study Group’s historically incredible “intervention” in the muddle of George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq, demanding a change of course. According to talk-radio conservative advocate Mark Levin, “Jeb Bush has brought James Baker into his campaign as his top foreign policy advisor.”

Seriously? Is that the way it will be? When will the boys of Barbara Bush be allowed to ride free without family intervention, without retainers pulling their strings, without the training wheels?

Quigley is a prize-winning writer who has worked more than 35 years as a book and magazine editor, political commentator and reviewer. For 20 years he has been an amateur farmer, raising Tunis sheep and organic vegetables. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife and four children. Contact him at quigley1985@gmail.com.