Tonight, Gov. Rick Perry (R., Tex.) offered “a Texan’s view” of how to revive the economy — and a hint that he would run for president — to the New York County Republican party at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.

“It takes a special reason to get us out of Texas,” Perry joked to the crowd. Usually, he traveled outside of the Lone Star State only to convince companies to relocate their headquarters within his state’s borders.


Perry boasted of the state’s economic affluence — a product, he argued, of his administration’s policies. Recently, the Lone Star State has created more jobs than the other 49 other states combined. And that success comes from three principles, Perry said: First, “don’t spend all the money.” Second, “have a regulatory climate that is fair and predictable.” Third, have “a legal system that doesn’t allow for over-suing.”

For examples of policies built on these principles, Perry pointed to his initiatives: tort reform, which led to an increase of 20,000 doctors in the state, and legal reform, which instituted a policy of “loser pays.”

Besides his brief policy outline, Perry touted his confident conservatism.


“I’m proud to call myself a conservative,” Perry declared. “Because conservatives have won the war of ideas.”


“Why would you change your name if you weren’t proud of it?” he asked before pointing out that liberal activists now call themselves progressives. “You can change your name, but you can’t change your colors,” Perry said.

“Washington is not going to go quietly into the night,” Perry warned, before invoking the Tenth Amendment. The federal government was created to be an agent of the states, “not the other way around,” Perry insisted, while thrusting his fist downward.

“The states are supposed to lead the way; they are the laboratories of innovation in our country,” Perry said. “I want to see New York state again [as] a place where we have to look at what we’re doing it in Texas because we’re losing workers to New York. But we can’t do that if the federal government is forcing us into a one size fits all.”

Afterward, Perry asked the crowd to take out their cell phones and text the word “leadership” to 95613. “We’ll keep you in the loop,” Perry promised — a barely veiled hint toward a presidential run.


“Are you ready to take this country back?” Perry asked the crowd before leaving the stage. From his speech tonight, he seemed to be running for president.