One of the world’s premier global warming deniers, Sen. James Inhofe, R-OK, Monday endorsed Rick Perry for president. Colorado politics watchers may remember it was shortly before last November’s election that Inhofe came to Colorado to engage in some joint campaigning with senate candidate Ken Buck.
Buck at the time was already taking heat for his views on abortion, his decision not to prosecute a rape case and his comments comparing being gay to being alcoholic, a sentiment now promulgated by Perry. When Buck’s views on climate change became widely known, it didn’t help his campaign any.
Sen. Jim Inhofe, a strident conservative voice in the Senate and a vocal skeptic of global warming, formally endorsed Gov. Rick Perry on Monday, calling him “the only guy who can really win this thing.”
“The one thing that he has that nobody else has is this background of experience, not just him being an administrator but doing the right thing, cutting down the deficit, increasing jobs. And he’s done everything right,” Inhofe said, adding, “No one out there running is as aware as to the cost of all the overregulation that we’re experiencing right now.”
Speaking of overregulation, The Colorado Statesman’s Jody Hope Strogoff was in Aspen last week to report on a Perry fundraiser at the home of Marc Holtzman.
“When it comes to economic growth, I know this,” Perry added. “The answer is not trickle down stimulus coming from Washington, D.C. but is truly up to freeing up those individuals unleashing corporate growth and the investment on Wall Street freeing them up from over taxation, over regulation and over litigation.”
Asked to comment on the Inhofe endorsement, Democratic political consultant Mike Stratton said that accepting the endorsement probably makes sense for Perry.
“I think Perry believes that being the most plausible conservative is the way to the nomination. He is viewed as plenty conservative already but not as crazy as (Michele) Bachmann or (Sarah) Palin. He sees that as being the path to the nomination. Getting the endorsement of Inhofe, one of the most stalwart of right wing conservatives helps him.”
Asked how the endorsement would play in the general election, Stratton said, “Obama is going to have a very difficult time getting reelected given the state of the world and of the economy. Republicans believe that whoever they nominate can win.
“Last time, they put up someone they thought could appeal to the middle in John McCain, and Obama won. So, this time, they are saying, let’s put up one of our real solid to the right guys, really shore up our base, and we can win.”
As if Inhofe’s endorsement wasn’t enough, Perry then went on the stump, saying America’s route to untold riches lies in repealing regulations on the energy industry.
Also from MSNBC:
Answering questions after brief remarks, Perry told reporters that the national debt should be addressed by the elimination of federal regulations on the energy industry, which would create jobs and wealth previously unseen in the American economy.
“Just in the energy industry alone, if you remove the boot of regulation that this administration has taken to a new level in this country, the job creation that will occur will be phenomenal. It, singularly, by freeing up these entrepreneurs will create wealth like we have never seen in this country before. And that wealth will pay off that debt.”
In Colorado, polls routinely show that people want enough regulation to protect the environment and even the energy industry has come to accept the regulations now in place.
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