(Bloomberg News) In Texas, Governor Rick Perry could comment about secession from the United States and letting college students pack concealed weapons without attracting much attention beyond the state's borders.
As his campaign for the White House gets under way, Perry's talk in Iowa earlier this week of wanting a chief executive who loves America and his warning to Ben S. Bernanke that things could get "ugly" for the Federal Reserve chairman in Texas if he tries additional, "almost treasonous," monetary stimulus gained an instant national audience. Today, campaigning in New Hampshire, Perry dismissed humankind's effect on climate change as an unproven theory.
Perry's comments, especially his attack on Bernanke, have raised questions about whether his rhetoric will undercut his political aspirations.
"You just can't run around shooting your mouth off and talking about the Federal Reserve and talking about treason and getting ugly," said Cornelius Hurley, a law professor at Boston University and a former assistant general counsel to the Fed's Board of Governors. "That's just not appropriate."
Hurley, a self-described "disenchanted" supporter of President Barack Obama, says while tension has long existed between politicians and the Fed, Perry took it to new heights.
'Ramped Up' Rhetoric
"I have never heard the rhetoric ramped up the way Governor Perry did," he said. "That's a very troubling development. We expect more of our president and should expect more of our presidential candidates."
Perry's comment about Bernanke and his remark about the U.S. needing a president "that's in love with America" -- implying to some that he was saying Obama isn't -- and his stand on global warming may play well with Tea Party activists and social conservatives central to his bid for the 2012 Republican nomination. In the general election, though, such comments may pose a problem for him in swing states like Ohio and Florida, analysts said.
"Texas is a big state with rough-and-tumble politics, but when you get to that national stage, everyone is going to be looking closely," said Tim Hagle, an associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa. "Sometimes you get into a bit of a culture clash with these sort of things."
Perry, during a backyard appearance two days ago in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, cautioned against Bernanke making any move to increase stimulus spending before the 2012 election.
'Treacherous,' 'Treasonous'