Perry, Social Security, and the Press

Although the title of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s book – “Fed Up!” – reflects his views on Social Security, his recent comments on ways to improve the system have caused him a great amount of media scrutiny. In his novel, Governor Perry compares the Social Security system to a Ponzi scheme, just like he did in the recent GOP debate at the Reagan Library. Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, critiques Governor Perry’s words by saying that even if his accusations on Social Security are true, the retired senior citizens in South Florida (the location of the recent debate) would not want to hear that the system would be completely reconfigured. Governor Perry has recently stated that Social Security can be fixed if Americans come together and fix it for the long haul, whereas he called it a “failure” in his book. Anticipating the counterattacks he knew he would receive after his book’s publication, Perry writes: “Now, if you say Social Security is a failure, as I have just done, you will inherit the wind of political scorn.” Perry is certainly undergoing the wind of political scorn, but not for his opposing viewpoints – instead, his opponents are attacking him for these two seemingly contradictory ideas. Perry continues to face accusations about the inconsistency in his statements.

The optimism Governor Perry showed towards fixing Social Security appears to counter his critiques of the system as a “Ponzi scheme.” However, his two statements can show that even though he sees the problems the country is facing, he can successfully tackle the issues. Although he believes the system to be in ruins, he believes he can fix it. “The press is the enemy” is Chris Matthews’ Hardball tactic that Governor Perry is forced to learn the hard way. Finding inconsistencies in presidential nominees’ campaigns is what the press thrives on, and they have found something incompatible in Perry’s campaign. What Perry must now do is answer this “shot” by ridicule the accusation by reiterating his doubts about Social Security along with his plan for improving it. This would also position himself away from Democrats in a way that would gain him Republican votes, instead of allowing this situation to cost him the Republican nomination.