Questioning Perry's intellect

Politico:

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Strip away the euphemisms, and Rick Perry is confronting an unavoidable question: is he dumb - or just misunderestimated?

Doubts about Perry’s intellect have hounded him since he was first elected as a state legislator nearly three decades ago. In Austin, he’s been derided as a right-place, right-time pol who looks the part but isn’t so deep – “Gov. Goodhair.” Now, with the chatter picking back up among his enemies and taking flight in elite Republican circles, the rap threatens to follow him to the national stage.

“He’s like Bush only without the brains,” cracked one former Republican governor who knows Perry, repeating a joke that has made the rounds.

The Texan’s loyalists reject the suggestion, asserting that it owes to political bias and sour grapes, but Perry himself seems to welcome the low bar. He cracked on the campaign trail earlier this month that the difference between he and Bush was that he went to Texas A&M and the former president attended Yale.

But conversations with both Perry admirers and critics reveal a more complicated assessment about the mind of a politician who has never lost an election—and ranks as the longest-serving governor in Texas history.

He is not an ideas man. Perry hasn’t spent his political career marking up the latest Cato or Heritage white papers or reading policy-heavy books late into the night. Advisers and colleagues have informed much of his thinking over the years.

“He’s not a guy who’s going to go up to the Aspen Institute,” said longtime Texas lobbyist Bill Miller, a Perry fan. “It’s not the way he’s made.”

Miller said Perry learns what is necessary to be effective.

“If he should know about John Locke, he’ll know about John Locke,” said Miller. “If it’s not on his schedule, it’s irrelevant to him.”

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Perry may not be a wonk, but that doesn’t mean he’s a rube—a costly mistake many of his foes have made.

His policy focus as governor hasn’t been complex – it’s almost entirely jobs and business-focused – but that’s not where Perry’s mind is, say those who know him.

He’s a power politician and very canny one. And what seems to animate him is competition.

Whether it is winning elections, beating out other states in attracting jobs or besting them for college football recruits, Perry is ferociously single-minded.

“This is like judging [baseball star] David Ortiz as a failed athlete because he’s never scored a touchdown,” said Democratic Texas state Rep. Mike Villarreal, alluding to the Perry-is-dull charge. “He’s a focused, committed and skilled political animal. He wins elections. Do not underestimate him.”

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Perry’s contemporary to the east, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, recounted a phone call he got from the Texan about an article in a business magazine outlining the tax incentives Louisiana had put in place to lure digital media businesses.

“He knew the nuances of what we had done and called to congratulate me but also to see what Texas could do to be competitive with us,” said Jindal.

Jindal, who has not yet endorsed a presidential candidate, also recalled being at a private meeting and hearing Perry detail to Texas businessmen the ways in which Louisiana had become more attractive to the film industry.

“He’ll know in detail what Louisiana has done and then push Texas to be more competitive,” said the Louisianan, who dismisses questions about Perry’s intellect as elitism from those who only like Republicans that “either raise taxes or lose elections.”

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Bobby Jindal is a wonk that even liberals recognize as smart, most of the time. Jindal is smart enough to recognize Perry's talent. Those to suggest that Perry is not smart are usually the kind of liberals who think that if people were really smart they would be liberals. It is a conceit that was displayed in my life time against Eisenhower, Ford, Reagan and both of the Bush presidents.

As a politician, Perry has a knack for turning opponents assets into liabilities in a campaign. He puts them on the defensive and makes their supporters crazy. That is pretty smart in my opinion.