Perry returns to Iowa with ‘a lot of ground to make up’

DES MOINES - Texas Gov. Rick Perry traveled to Iowa on Saturday looking to mend some political fences.

Perry upset some Republicans in the state earlier this month by throwing his hat into the presidential race on the same day as the straw poll in Ames.

But on Saturday, Darrell Kearney, a Polk County GOP official, said Perry is on the road to getting back into the state's good graces as he engaged in retail politicking in Des Moines.

“I think he's made it very clear he's going to spend a lot of time in Iowa, he's going to campaign hard in Iowa, and it's just that he made a decision to get in late,” Kearney said. “He's got a lot of ground to make up, but he's pretty popular tonight. But it's a wide open race.”

Saturday's Polk County GOP picnic drew twice the normal crowd, thanks mostly to the presence of Perry, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan.

Perry touted his state's success in creating jobs since he became governor in December 2000. He juxtaposed that against President Barack Obama's economic record, noting that Iowa has lost more than 12,000 jobs under the current administration, and one in eight residents are now on food stamps.

“That is a testament to the widespread misery created by this administration that the state known for feeding the world has so many residents now dependent on government just to pay for their food,” he said.

Perry conceded that Obama inherited a tough economic situation but said the president has made it worse.

“It is time for change, and I'm not talking about the rhetoric of change, I'm talking about the record of change and I've got that record,” he told the Polk County crowd.

Perry's message wasn't universally well-received in Iowa. He told Iowa corn growers and later reporters at the Polk County event that he would like to see the federal government end all incentives that he believes are stifling growth - including tax breaks for corn-derived ethanol.

“We don't need to have government picking winners and losers,” Perry told reporters. “I'd like to see a level playing field for all the energy producers of this country.”

Paul, meanwhile, said he wanted to scrap the monetary and regulatory structures that are fueling government's growth and limiting citizens' freedoms.

“People are realizing the system we have today isn't working. Even those who have been on the receiving end are getting worried. How are they going to get your money if you don't have money?” asked Paul, who finished a strong second in the Aug. 13 straw poll. “There's lots of worry but there's lots of opportunity.”

Along with reducing people's appetite for government, Paul said he wants to rein in a foreign policy that allows the president to commit American resources to a United Nations effort in Libya.

“I resent the fact that we go to war now without your permission,” he said.

McCotter told the crowd that the Democratic Party wants to portray itself as progressive. However, it actually supports regressive policies that impede liberty and self governance in favor of “a massive, imploding welfare state,” he said.

He noted that Americans would not allow the government to tell them what to put on their Facebook pages, what to “tweet out in your Twitter stream,” what to put on their iPods or how to run their lives.

“Then why would anyone let the federal government tell them who their doctor would be?”