The upcoming battle for the Presidency - and hence for a vision of who we are as a people - may well come down to Rick Perry and Pres. Obama. If it does it will pit a traditional Democratic vision against a traditional Texan view. Long before Perry was governor Texas has always believed that societies should be shaped by natural forces, that the lives of its citizens should settle out as successful or not based on their hard work. Those whose lives were affluent had earned it; those who were poor... It was not for government to redistribute success either through services or income transfers. That would be immoral. Clearly the traditional Democratic view of success is more complex - that many factors beyond hard work determine success - and that a modern humane society works to reduce enormous inequalities in living conditions. Every family should have decent housing,food, and education even if it means taking some income from the most successful. It also means protecting the public from irresponsible or unsafe behaviors or unhealthy products from corporations.
Texas reflects how a society with an essentially Darwinian governing philosophy looks. It has its millionaires - 350,000 of them (fewer than NY or Florida though, and much fewer than California). It has its famous high rolling oil and gas industries. It is not a unionized state. It has low taxes and few regulations to impede industry. Companies like to move there. But it also scores near the bottom on any measure of how its less prosperous citizens are doing: the highest percentage of jobs which pay minimum wage, the highest percentage of citizens without health care, the lowest high school graduation rate, the least spent on medical care; they are near the bottom on money spent to educate their kids and how well they support those on welfare; their overall employment rate is average(25th), no “miracle”. It is a state that celebrates its wealthy - have you seen the new Dallas Cowboys’ stadium? - and essentially ignores its working classes. Rick Perry did not create this; he has only continued it. It is darwinian - Ayn Rand would approve - and it is what Rick Perry is asking America to become.
This is much more than an election about a “Texas miracle” or a “failed stimulus” or two personalities. It is about who we think we should be as a society and the results will affect us for years to come.