Perry, Obama to talk border security
SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson talks with The Daily Texan about the dicey meeting/not-meeting incident involving President Obama, Texas Governor Rick Perry and gubernatorial candidate Bill White.
By Nolan Hicks
The Daily Texan Staff
President Barack Obama and Gov. Rick Perry will meet today at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the governor’s office announced late Friday.
Perry has been requesting a meeting in Texas with Obama for the past few weeks, stating he’d like to talk with the president about border security issues. . .
Obama’s trip to Texas, which begins today in Austin, has been a nonstop political headache for Democratic gubernatorial challenger Bill White since news of it broke July 19.
Polling shows that Obama isn’t a popular political figure in the Lone Star State, and Perry has spent the past two months trying to connect White’s campaign to Obama’s political fortunes.
“Perry is certainly trying to tie Obama’s unpopularity in Texas to White,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “Fortunately, Perry practices politics in slow motion, so it’s easy to see what he’s trying to do.”
Jillson said that Obama’s low polling numbers may potentially cause political damage if Perry is able to link the president to White.
“[Obama’s] in the high 30s toward 40 in terms of job approval with the negative being in the mid-50s or so,” Jillson said. “White looks at [those numbers] and asks, ‘What good does it do me to be seen with Obama?’”
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