Rick Perry puts mug shot on T-shirts: what that says about 2016
Rick Perry isn't running from his felony indictment. Instead, he's featuring it on a T-shirt that appears tailored for a presidential run in 2016, especially the reference to 'securing the border' 鈥� a weak point in his last presidential primary bid.
Supporters hold up a t-shirt with the word 'Wanted' written over a photograph of Texas Governor Rick Perry, a possible Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential race at a 'NH GOP Victory Rally' in Stratham, New Hampshire August 23, 2014. A felony indictment accusing him of abusing his power has energized Texas conservatives, who claim it鈥檚 a politically motivated attack in an important election year. It鈥檚 also put the spotlight back on Perry, who is trying to rehabilitate his political image before leaving office in January and convince would-be 2016 Republican primary voters that he鈥檚 worth a second look.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Washington
Rick Perry has put his mug shot on T-shirts. It鈥檚 true: His aides were handing them out in New Hampshire during the Texas governor's weekend visit to the first-in-the-nation primary state. Governor Perry鈥檚 political-action committee is selling them, too.
鈥淕et yours for $25 today!鈥� Monday morning.
The front of this choice piece of Perry-wear features the mug shot itself, showing the governor, sans his fancy new glasses, smiling ever-so-slightly into the camera. 鈥淲ANTED鈥� is stamped over Perry鈥檚 face, and below is the tag line, 鈥淔OR SECURING THE BORDER AND DEFEATING DEMOCRATS."
The T-shirt back shows the mug shot of Rosemary Lehmberg, the Democratic Travis County prosecutor at the center of Perry鈥檚 recent felony indictment. She鈥檚 disheveled, which isn鈥檛 surprising because she was inebriated at the time her photo was taken. 鈥淕UILTY鈥� is written on her mug shot, with the tag line, 鈥淒RIVING WHILE INTOXICATED AND PERVERSION OF JUSTICE."
These graphics, and their juxtaposition, say a lot about how Perry intends to approach his almost-certain upcoming 2016 presidential run.
First, a reminder: Perry was indicted earlier this month by a Travis County grand jury on two felony counts of abuse of power. The charges stem from his veto of $7.5 million intended for a Texas ethics watchdog unit led by Ms. Lehmberg.
In 2013, Lehmberg was arrested for and convicted of drunken driving. Perry publicly called on her to resign for this offense, and he threatened to veto the state funds for her unit if she didn鈥檛.
She declined to resign, in part because Perry would have been able to appoint her successor, and he went ahead and vetoed the money.
It鈥檚 not the veto per se, but this combination of a public demand and the subsequent official veto action that prosecutors allege is illegal.
Now, back to the body coverings. Lots of commentators have opined that Perry鈥檚 indictment is legally kind of a stretch. They鈥檝e even said he might benefit from the perception that he鈥檚 being attacked. The T-shirt looks like an attempt to capitalize on that theory.
The shirt pits Perry against a drunken Democrat, visually speaking. He鈥檚 going to look good by comparison, even if his mug shot weren鈥檛 pretty upbeat听for the genre, which it is.
But Lehmberg isn鈥檛 Perry鈥檚 real opponent here. She鈥檚 not involved in the prosecution. The indictment was brought by a special prosecutor appointed by a Republican state judge, so it isn鈥檛 even GOP versus Dem, strictly speaking.
Of course, a T-shirt with Perry on the front and a grand jury on the back might not raise as much money or excite Republican primary voters quite as much.
Perhaps more interesting is the appearance of the word 鈥渂order鈥� in the Perry mug shot tag line.
In his 2012 presidential run, Perry was hurt both by his poor stage performances (鈥渙ops鈥�) and his relative squishiness on immigration. At one point in 2011, he accused fellow Republicans who wished to deny in-state college tuition to children brought into the country illegally by their parents of 鈥渓acking a heart."
Since then, the party has moved only right on the question of immigration, and Perry seems determined to toughen his own position on the issue via such measures as deploying the Texas National Guard to the border. In a speech last week, he charged that听Islamic State terrorists, such as those who murdered freelance photographer James Foley, may have sneaked into the United States from Mexico.
Thus, 鈥淪ECURING THE BORDER鈥� is a phrase that Perry wants Republicans to associate with his name.
鈥淸T]o an under-appreciated extent just about everything Rick Perry does on the national stage these days is tailored to correcting鈥� his mistake on immigration and the goofy image left by his maladroit debate performances, in The New Republic.