Well, at least that's what his spokesman says...
After reading dday's great diary about "Swift Boat" bankroller Bob Perry's involvement in the current GOP scheme to steal California electoral votes, I commented that I'd like to raise awareness about this here in Texas. I thought maybe if Houstonians were aware of Bob Perry's Swift Boater credentials, along with this current plan to bankroll the theft of California's electoral votes, it might hurt his bottom line. After all, it's not as if there aren't dozens of other home builders here, and right now, they're all hungry. I thought if the average new home buyer were informed of this, they could easily take their business elsewhere, and Perry would feel the hit.
But, it turns out that today's Houston Chronicle features some new information from columnist Rick Casey. The column opens with:
Memo to California Democrats: You can breathe easier.
More over the fold...
Houston homebuilder Bob Perry is not going to bankroll a scheme to give enough of your electoral votes to a Republican to offset a Democrat carrying such battleground states as Ohio, Pennsylvania or Florida.
[emphasis mine]
Phew! But wait, how do I know Casey isn't just blowing smoke? Casey's opinions regarding Perry, the Swift Boaters, and the current scheme become clear right from the start.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean called the proposal a "Tom DeLay/Karl Rove-type maneuver," signaling a more-than-subliminal suspicion that all political evil emanates from Texas.
Earlier this week, Kos reported some cautiously optimistic news: the Swift-boater folks were struggling to get the necessary signatures to get the plan on the California ballot.
Casey sums up the real issue:
The first hurdle for the proposal is to gather more than 400,000 signatures to put it on next June's ballot. Paying signature gatherers will cost an estimated $1 million to $2 million — well within Perry's comfort range.
Then, he touches on the bad news that dday reported on Tuesday. Casey explains how Democrats were rightly afraid after the AP reported that Perry "hadn't ruled out" funding the new election-stealing cause.
However, Casey reports, we really don't have to worry.
Thursday Holm said the reporter was wrong. Perry does rule out getting involved.
"We have no intention of donating," Holm said firmly.
I can almost hear Howard Dean screaming for joy.
OK, Casey couldn't resist that small dig, perhaps to give himself a patina of "balance." (?) I do have the give the man some kudos for his clear understanding of an issue that hasn't been in the news here, and his ability to report it so that the average Houstonian can understand it.
He does mention how the idea of assigning electoral votes by district might work if ALL the states did it...
But for one large state to make the change on its own smacks of pure partisan gimmickry.
And the icing on the cake: not only did Casey deliver some good news, he managed to let previously uninformed readers know that Bob Perry's money (earned from the sale of Perry Homes) bankrolled the swiftboating of John Kerry, which is probably something most of them didn't know. Here's hoping that Perry sees his sales numbers drop as a result.