Rick not alone in bashing Obama...

Obama is sort of the untouchable guy everyone loves to avoid criticizing, but Rick has jumped right in and criticized him.

POLITICO has a story about how he is not the only one (link). Excerpt follows...

Perry is hoping to portray himself as an authentic Texas Republican, in contrast to a politician who left the state for Washington, Texas politicos say.

“Perry is trying to position himself as the Washington outsider and the true conservative,” said Mark McKinnon, a Texas consultant who advised former President George W. Bush. “It’s in his best interest with Texas primary voters to be the tip of the spear attacking President Obama.”

[SNIP]

In Texas, Hutchison’s camp is taking aim at Perry’s rhetoric as a sign of his possible weakness with Democrats and independents.

“Perry has chosen a political tack to get back in the good graces of a supposed political base,” said Hans Klingler, Hutchison’s campaign communications director. “I don’t think that anybody’s ever going to make the argument that Rick Perry, come November, is going to be the most favored boy at the dance.”

[SNIP]

Perry spokesman Mark Miner took a similar tack, saying the governor’s clashes with the White House were to be expected, since a new, more liberal administration took office with “more bad policies.”

“He’s always been a fiscal conservative, and he’s always governed in a fiscally conservative manner,” Miner said. “He’s going to stand up for what’s in the best interests of people in Texas. And if that entails criticizing Washington and Congress, he’s going to do so.”

For now, Perry seems to be benefiting from his fight with the White House. A Perry campaign poll released in May showed the governor trailing his likely primary opponent by just 6 points, 39 percent to 45 percent, after surveys showed Hutchison crushing him by double digits a few months earlier.

“The more he can make Washington the issue, the better off he is and the worse off she is,” Bell said. “There was a sense, for a while, that she was a cinch to win, and you don’t hear much of that anymore.”

Chris Bell, what is that guy up to these days? He lost the governor's race then lost in a Houston state senate race. I guess he is freelancing as a political commentator.