If only this Rick Perry had shown up in 2012.
The Texas governor and former presidential candidate turned in a sterling performance Wednesday evening in his face-off with Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley on CNN’s Crossfire, shelling out a slew of impressive statistics touting his state’s economic progress and landing a couple punches on his counterpart.
Perry was composed, confident and well-prepared — conjuring up an image that was in stark contrast to his bumbling debate performance on a debate stage in November 2011.
If more Americans get to see this steely Perry, he may have a shot at a second impression after all.
But as you’ll see below, for every datapoint a politician likes to highlight, there’s another they’re keen on downplaying.
Here’s The RUN scorecard of the most potent points in the Perry vs. O’Malley Crossfire:
The Topic: Recent Job Growth
The Charge: Perry – ”Martin’s state lost 4,700 jobs in July. That’s a fact. You lost 4,700 jobs in July. Texas created 18,200.”
The Facts: Perry was generous: Maryland actually lost 9,200 jobs in July, whereas Texas gained 19,900.
The Advantage: Perry
The Topic: Economic Mobility
The Charge: O’Malley — Maryland is ranked at the top, whereas Texas is among the worst
The Facts: Maryland boasts better mobility than the national average, while Texas is worse.
The Advantage: O’Malley
The Topic: Population Migration
The Charge: Perry — Texas has added 230,000 people while Maryland has lost population.
The Facts: According to Census Data compiled by Governing, Texas has gained people — but about 100,000. Maryland has lost about 11,000 residents.
The Advantage: Perry
The Topic: Minimum Wage Jobs
The Charge: O’Malley — “Your state is tied for last place along with Mississippi now in the percentage of your people who work in minimum or less than minimum wage jobs.”
The Facts: O’Malley’s correct, Texas has the most minimum wage workers in the nation, but their number is falling.
The Advantage: Push. While O’Malley is right on the statistic, host Newt Gingrich got him to concede the point that a minimum wage job is certainly preferable to no job at all.
The Topic: The Uninsured
The Charge: O’Malley – ”We’ve made our schools the number one in America for five years in a row. You’ve had the greatest number of uninsured citizens.”
The Facts: About a quarter of Texas residents lack health insurance. This is because many companies don’t offer it, the Medicaid program is limited and there’s a large immigrant population.
The Advantage: O’Malley
The Topic: Long-Term Job Growth
The Charge: Perry – ”Your job growth has been abysmal compared to states like Texas.”
The Facts: He’s right. It’s not only that Texas continues to have some of the best job growth in the country this year, Maryland has lagged over the past few years. In 2011, it was delegated as having the worst job creation in the nation, according to the Labor Department. ”Last year, we led the region in the rate of job growth,” said O’Malley. Retorted Perry, “Led the region? We’re talking about America.”
The Advantage: Perry
The Topic: Graduation Rate
The Charge: O’Malley – ”You have the second to worst drop-out rate in your high-schools.”
The Facts: Perry retorted that the overall graduation rate in Texas is 86 percent. ”You know what yours are in Maryland? 83 percent. That’s less than 86 percent, governor,” he sliced. Perry’s right.
The Advantage: Perry
Perry even got the better of the last garbled exchange between the two on the program.
“On job creation, Texas is leading the march,” he stated.
O’Malley, refusing to allow Perry the last word, responded: ”On schools and median income, Maryland is leading the march.”
Fine points, but job creation is a cleaner and more resonant statistic — and one that Perry remained smartly focused on throughout his appearance.
Follow Dave’s blog at TheRun2016.com
