Rick Perry gets day two at CPAC going with some righteous blue-state bashing

We’ve been fans of alicublog writer Roy Edroso for years. Is there anyone who understands the angst of conservatives better than Roy? He’s our man on the ground at CPAC — ED

Texas Governor Rick Perry caught the early bird crowd at CPAC today with some good old blue-state bashing. First he set the yee-haw tone by saying he was reminded of the Jefferson quote beloved of Tea Party belligerents, "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing."

Instead of leading the crowd in a raid on the Treasury just up the Potomac, however, Perry proposed a rebellion "in the battlefield of ideas. But instead of looking to Washington... I ask you to look to the states," he said. He compared the "vision common in blue states," where "the state plays increasing role in the lives of their citizens... taxes are on the rise... [and] jobs are leaving by the truckloads" to the "vision common to red state America, where the freedom of the individual comes first... Taxes are low, spending is under control, jobs are on the rise, and opportunity is being sought far and wide."

Knowing his suburban, coast-hating crowd, Perry also harshed specifically on California and New York.

"No two states have lost more personal income to other states than New York and California," he told the very receptive attendees. "If you rent a U-Haul to move your business from San Francisco to Austin, it costs twice as much than to go from Austin to San Francisco -- because you can't find enough trucks to flee the Golden State!" One might attribute the higher price of moving to California versus moving to Texas to marketplace choice, but one is not speaking at CPAC.

Oh, yeah, New York, Perry says your "back-breaking regulations" and bigger than "a 30-oz Big Gulp." Haw haw!

Anyway, per Perry all you have to do is be born on a bunch of oil get the Gummint out of everything: "Nowhere does the Constituion say Congress should federalize classrooms... or give Congress power over our air and water... and nowhere does it say Congress has the right to federalize health care!" Here his peroration grew in volume and hand-waving ("You have the pahr to change America!") as did the crowd, who cheered him on to another probably doomed Presidential campaign.