out and get everybody in the room together, like what we did on education policy. It’s not going to be perfect, but the current system is broken. Greg Abbott defends the existing system as legal and constitutional. I don’t believe it is constitutional. You have a state property tax prohibition in our Constitution, and when you’re taking money from 374 districts and shipping it elsewhere, it’s a state property tax.
BDS: You mentioned General Abbott, and I certainly want to talk about him, but let’s back up a little bit to Governor Perry. I think one of the issues that the voters will be asking candidates as the primary approaches is: do you represent an extension of Perry’s brand of leadership, or do you expect to lead the state and the Republican party in a different direction?
TP: No, no. There will be major differences. I like Rick personally, but I did not endorse him in his presidential race. I think we have a real problem, and it may be because people stay too long, which breeds too much cronyism in Austin. It gives too much influence to the Austin insiders. It’s almost like state government is for sale. Take CPRIT, the cancer fund, for example. Greg Abbot served on the board, but he never attended one meeting. There are all kinds of questionable commercialization grants, and then he turns around and gets millions in contributions from individuals and entities that benefited from those grants? I mean, this is a huge breakdown in fiduciary responsibility. There’s so much influence by the people who write the big checks and not enough influence by the people out there who don’t have lobbyists in Austin who just want the government to be a servant of the people. I have nothing against these guys personally, but it is too much of an incestuous, insider-driven, money-driven approach to government. That’s not true conservatism. My election as governor will be a real break with the powers that be. I mean, look at the political consultants. Greg has hired Dave Carney. Well, Dave worked for Rick and worked for David Dewhurst and is now working for Abbott. It’s the same kind of bunch that has flowed in and out, and I just think they’ve got too much influence.
BDS: In your letter to your supporters, two of your priorities would be term limits for statewide elected officials and eliminate so-called crony capitalism. Those are both lines of attack that critics of Perry have used.
TP: Not just with Perry, but also Greg Abbott. I’m for term limits, he’s against term limits. He’s been part of this rubber stamp on looking the other way on some of these questionable cancer grants. This stuff has to stop. It isn’t true conservatism. I mean people aren’t giving Greg Abbott $22 million because they love him. They’ve got a guy they are able to influence.
BDS: You have challenged Abbott to a series of debates in advance of the primary. Where are you right now in that dialogue with the Abbott campaign?
TP: Well, they’re ducking it. I can see why they’re reluctant to debate because they don’t want to have to answer these questions. He’s not even laid out his specific policies he’s going to put in place if he’s elected governor. He just says education, water, and transportation are serious problems. Well, that’s nice to know, but what are you going to do about them? People told me when I started this campaign, “Oh, don’t you dare run against him because he’s got the money.” It’s like the state is for sale. But I’ve talked to business people who are committed to him, and I don’t hear them say, “Wow, we really think he’s great. He is going to make a terrific Governor.” If I felt that way, I wouldn’t be running. I don’t have a desire for office or power at this stage in my career; I’ve done plenty. But I just see this thing blowing up on us at some point, and it could happen sooner rather than later.
BDS: I suspect it’s fair to say that journalists like myself might make too much of campaign finance reports, but that is a measure of support. So far you’ve raised a little under $250,000, and in July you raised less than $45,000. Doesn’t that add legitimacy to his campaign? And how do you compete with that? Do you believe that you will be able to make it all the way to primary?
TP: I think so. We knew we were going to be heavily out-spent in the very beginning, but I was heavily out-spent when I ran for state party chairman, and we were able to win because people wanted to go back to a grass-roots approach rather than a top-down approach. But is that a reason to elect somebody, because he’s got $25 million? That’s their biggest argument. Money is no reason to nominate a guy to be governor of Texas.
Another issue where there’s a fundamental difference between the two of us is Abbott’s intervention with Eric Holder to block the merger of American Airlines and US Airways. Clearly, if they succeed, it’s a job killer for North Texas and makes no sense from an economic standpoint. I think it’s another indication that Abbott is not a true conservative but a big-government Republican. All this talk about waking up and suing Obama—except for the morning he woke up and joined with Obama.
BDS: General Abbott argues that the merger would violate anti-trust laws, but beyond that he has argued that it will reduce competition and allow the new company to increase baggage fees, increase handling fees, and pass along costs to the consumer. You clearly don’t buy that argument.
TP: That statement by Abbot clearly reflects his lack of understanding of the private sector and his lack of any direct involvement in running businesses, where you’ve got to make a profit in order to succeed. There