Perry leaves campaign trail to return to Texas – Austin American-Statesman
By Jason Embry
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 9:11 p.m. Monday, Sept. 5, 2011
BASTROP — The wildfires that swept through Central Texas over the past couple of days illustrated the balancing act facing Gov. Rick Perry as he campaigns for president in the months ahead.
Perry cut short a campaign trip to return to Texas on Monday afternoon, was driven straight to Bastrop and was soon in full gubernatorial mode — hearing reports from emergency operations officials, touring a shelter and addressing television cameras.
“Texas has deployed a wide array of our assets,” Perry said, flanked by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, an Austin Republican who represents part of Bastrop County; County Judge Ronnie McDonald; and other local officials.
Perry skipped an afternoon candidate forum in South Carolina hosted by U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, a national leader in the tea party movement whose blessing would give any candidate a boost in that early-primary state. Even before he was back in Texas, Perry’s office detailed the state’s response in a news release.
But Perry was out of the state Sunday, even as the fires inflicted what local officials described as catastrophic damage. Perry was at campaign meetings, spokesman Mark Miner said, although he did not specify with whom.
And Monday morning, Perry attended a town hall meeting in South Carolina with U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, another key tea party figure in the state.
Throughout the long weekend, Perry “was monitoring the situation, he was being briefed on the situation, and he had several conference calls” about the fires, spokeswoman Allison Castle said.
Perry has canceled fundraisers he had scheduled for today in California. However, he still plans to attend a Wednesday night debate at the Ronald Reagan presidential library.
After Perry spoke to the media Monday, he walked through a shelter set up at a Bastrop middle school, patting residents on the back, accepting requests to pose for snapshots and asking about the damage they had suffered.
“Did you lose your house?” Perry asked a tearful J. Cindy Cruz, 47, of Bastrop.
“I think so,” Cruz replied as Perry gripped her hand.
Susan Wheatley, a 58-year-old state employee, approached Perry, pointed to the T-shirt and shorts she had on and said, “This is all I’ve got left.”
Perry will be spending much, if not most, of his time out of state in the coming months. And though he and his staff say he is governor 24/7, he takes something of a risk each time he leaves.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst takes over the governor’s duties when Perry is out of state. Dewhurst is in the midst of his own campaign for the U.S. Senate, but that race requires far less out-of-state travel than the presidential contest.
“Lt. Gov. Dewhurst has been in close contact with Gov. Perry, his staff, the Department of Public Safety and the Texas Division of Emergency Management to ensure that all available state resources are being utilized,” Dewhurst spokesman Mike Walz said.
In February, Dewhurst took control of the state’s response when sub-freezing temperatures and equipment failures prompted rolling blackouts around the state.
Asked Monday how his return to Texas would affect his debate performance Wednesday, Perry said, “I’m not paying any attention to politics right now.”
But it was difficult to put politics completely out of view when, in a news release announcing the state’s response to the fires, Perry’s office noted that the Obama administration initially denied the state’s request for a major disaster declaration in response to wildfires in May.
Administration officials explained at the time that they approved numerous grants that they said would provide fire relief faster than a disaster declaration.
“Gov. Perry appealed the president’s decision on May 26 and received partial approval of relief on July 1,” the release said. “A request to expand the scope of federal relief is still pending.”
jembry@statesman.com; 445-3572