Chad’s Morning Brief: Rick Perry To Announce Presidential Intentions in Late 2013, Assault Weapons Ban Tossed, & More
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of March 20, 2013. Give Chad your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11am.
1. Perry 2016? (link)
Will Governor Rick Perry run for President in 2016? We could find out later this year according to the Washington Post.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is likely to announce whether he will make another run for president in 2016 by late this year, a spokesman told Post Politics on Tuesday.
Perry told the Florida political blog The Shark Tank that Perry had said he would decide on whether to seek reelection as governor in June and then volunteered that he would make an announcement about running for president “sometime later in the year.”
Perry spokesman Josh Havens confirmed that Perry will probably announce his 2016 plans in the latter part of 2013.
“He has said that he will first make a decision this summer about running for reelection as governor, then sometime later on in the year he will probably make a decision about 2016,” Havens said.
Deciding on a presidential bid so early in the process would be odd, especially given that Perry could be running for reelection at that point. Politicians who are seeking reelection don’t generally say they will run for another office once they are reelected.
At the same time, Perry suffered in his 2012 presidential campaign not just because of his gaffes on the campaign trail but also, his advisers maintain, because of a late start. He got into the race in August, less than five months before the first primaries and caucuses and well after the other major candidates.
“The big tactical or strategic mistakes is … if he was going to do this, we should have started it years ago,” top Perry adviser David Carney said late last year.
Announcing his 2016 plans in 2013 — especially if he doesn’t seek reelection as governor — would certainly give him plenty of time to prepare.
I continue to predict that Governor Perry will not seek reelection. Instead, I believe he will endorse his good friend Greg Abbott for the job and then set his sights on the White House.
2. No Assault Weapons Ban (link)
It appears as though the Democrats have finally realized that a ban on assault weapons won't fly. Harry Reid dashed the hopes and dreams of Senator Dianne Feinstein yesterday when he announced that the firearms legislation that will be debated next week won't include a ban on assault weapons.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he wanted to bring a gun bill to the full Senate that would have enough support to overcome any GOP attempts to prevent debate from even starting. He expressed concern that including the assault weapons provision might effectively block passage of any bill at all.
Instead, the sponsor of the provision, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, said she will offer her ban on the military-style firearms as an amendment. But Feinstein is all but certain to need 60 votes from the 100-member Senate to prevail, and she faces solid Republican opposition as well as likely defections from some Democrats.
"I very much regret it," Feinstein, D-Calif., told reporters of Reid's decision. "I tried my best."
Reid said that "using the most optimistic numbers," there were less than 40 votes for Feinstein's ban. That is far less than the 60 needed to begin considering legislation.
"I'm not going to try to put something on the floor that won't succeed. I want something that will succeed. I think the worst of all worlds would be to bring to something to the floor and it dies there," Reid said.
Now we wait to see what the Democrats bring up next week.
3. Texas Senate Passes Term Limits (link)
The Texas Senate passed term limits for statewide office holders yesterday. The issue now goes to the House and if approved, to the voters. According to the Dallas Morning News, not everyone was on board with this idea.
The final Senate vote was 27-4 after one member shifted his vote. Those opposing the proposed amendment were Republican Sens. Brian Birdwell of Granbury, Craig Estes of Wichita Falls, Glenn Hegar of Katy and Tommy Williams of The Woodlands.
Thirty-six other states currently have term limits for their governors.
Eltife, who authored the bill, said he strongly believes officeholders should, “go to work, serve your term…then go back to private life or seek another office.”
But Estes said voters already have term limits everytime the state holds an election.
He also said that it is unfair to impose term limits on statewide officeholders while allowing senators and House members to serve for decades, if thye wish.
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Estes said. “To single out one branch of government isn’t right.”
Eltife said his bill doesn’t leave it to the Legislature to decide, but presents the opportunity for Texans to determine the kind of government they want.
“The voters of Texas will ultimately decide,” he said.
If you are wondering whether this bill would prevent Governor Rick Perry from seeking re-election, the answer is no. According to the news-journal.com story, today's office holders will be grandfathered in.
What do you think about this? Are you in favor of term limits for statewide office holders?
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