Texas Governor Rick Perry is in full apology mode — and for once this isn’t a GOPer apologizing for saying something that didn’t conform to a view mouthed by Rush Limbaugh. In this case he is apologizing profusely via the conservative website Newsmax.com for calling critics of education for immigrant children in Texas “heartless.” You can almost hear him say: “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” even though he restrains himself a bit. You can almost hear him say: “Lo siento mucho! Lo siento mucho!” but it’s good thing he didn’t or he could be in even more political trouble with the Republican right.
Presidential candidate Rick Perry on Wednesday apologized for saying that anyone who opposed giving tuition breaks to the children of illegal immigrants “did not have a heart.”
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, the Texas governor said he had made a poor choice of words during the Sept. 22 presidential debate, but he stood by his view that the decision in his state to extend tuition breaks was the right one.
“I was probably a bit over-passionate by using that word and it was inappropriate,” Perry admitted. “In Texas in 2001 we had 181 members of the legislature – only four voted against this piece of legislation – because it wasn’t about immigration it was about education.”
But in reality, we know what Perry is thinking. He’s probably thinking that he’d like the song below sung to conservatives (due to its title) who are ready to totally write him off because he dared not hold their view that compassionate conservatism is dead and still can live on in some areas and still be conservatism:
The bottom line: The damage is done. Many people will feel he is doing political damage control. Which he is. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could have some problems, too, in some of his past statements on illegal immigration related issues and would have to emulate Mitt Romney (who is more adept at flip flops than Perry, who does belly flops).
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.