Rick Perry: I learned from ’12; I can fix economy

SIOUX CITY, Ia. – Rick Perry took a two-pronged message to Sioux City on Monday night, telling a packed lecture hall at Morningside College that his years as governor of Texas gave the potential 2016 presidential candidate the know-how to boost America’s economy and secure its borders.

Perry, who ran for the Republican nomination in 2012, finished with 10 percent of the votes in that year’s Iowa caucuses. At that time, he called the contest a “loosey-goosey process” after his campaign launched late and he appeared infrequently in the state.

On Monday, Perry said he’d learned his lesson from 2012.

“I parachuted in here and I didn’t give Iowans an opportunity to get to know who I was and talk to them about the issues,” Perry told reporters. “I will not make that mistake again.”

Perry finished 10th among 16 potential Republican presidential candidates in the latest Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll of likely GOP caucusgoers.

While he’s no longer a fresh face to presidential politics, Iowans like his ideology. When asked to gauge where Perry stands between too conservative or too moderate, 62 percent of those polled called Perry “about right” — a higher percentage than any other candidate.

Perry paced the lecture hall with ease during his Morningside address, advocating for a federal government that values creating a healthy economy above all else. That means a federal government that gives power to the states, he said.

The former governor slammed Washington for collecting money through taxes and “using it to blackmail” states into meeting standards around infrastructure, education and health care delivery.

The United States needs an economic climate that encourages businesses to take risks while allowing for returns on investments, Perry said:

“Then the economy grows. The resources come in that add to the tax coffers so that you have the dollars to hire the teachers, to build the transportation infrastructure, to deliver the health care … . If you don’t get that right first, at some point in time it starts deteriorating.”

Citing his experience as governor, Perry described the benefits of an environment in which states can better shape their own business climates and compete with one another to lure companies.

“Competition is what makes the world go around,” Perry said, “whether it’s on a field of battle, whether it’s in business, whether it’s on the Morningside basketball team.”

Perry also discussed immigration at length, a topic of focus for him and many other likely presidential candidates during a forum in Des Moines last month.

While criticizing President Barack Obama for a lack of dedication in halting illegal immigration along Texas’ border With Mexico, Perry touted his willingness to deploy the state’s National Guard there while governor.

“I told him, ‘Mr. President, if Washington’s not going to secure the border, Texas will,’ ” Perry said.

During an interview with reporters, Leah Schwartz, a photographer with Sioux City’s KTIV-TV, asked Perry point-blank: “Are you running for the presidency?”

Perry ignored the question until the cameras had turned off and leaned in with a smile: “Good try, girl.”

SETTING: An auditorium inside the Robert M. Lincoln Center at Morningside College.

CROWD: A crowd of more than 100 packed the small lecture hall, leaving some to stand or sit on the floor.

REACTION: Perry received applause for lines promoting his tort reform efforts and dedication to addressing illegal immigration. Perhaps his most riotous applause came from a remark on his 2012 campaign in Iowa: “You better come to Iowa often. I’ve got that figured out.”

WHAT’S NEXT: Monday night’s address marked the final public event announced for this trip by Perry, who has promised to visit Iowa often ahead of the 2016 caucuses.​