In 1861, a little more then 150 years ago, the first shots of the Civil War, began in Charleston, South Carolina as the Confederacy opened fire on US troops defending Fort Sumter.
Why did Texas Governor Rick Perry choose this town, half a continent away from Texas, to declare his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States?
The symbolism of Charleston being the birthplace of the biggest, and bloodiest, argument over state's rights versus a strong federal government in US history could not be clearer. Perry in fact built his Tea Party credentials by making reference to secession as a possible solution for Texas to consider if the federal government continued to behave in a manner Republicans consider obtrusive and unconstitutional.
Coming to South Carolina announces Perry's solidarity with the Southern conservative core of the Tea Party and Republican base. It is Southern values, in many cases Confederate values, that have come to define the Republican Party in the last 40 years. The reddest of the red states of the USA are in the South, and Rick Perry well understands this, as he made his announcement at the Redstate Gathering.
Perry in fact has has a simple and basic, and really a Confederate principle, guiding his stated mission if he is elected POTUS:
"I will work every day to make Washington, D.C. as inconsequential in your lives as I can."
Perry further explains his designs against what he calls "central planners", a term alluding to the central planning that characterized communist regimes:
"It is up to us…to this present generation of Americans…to take a stand for freedom…to send a signal to Washington that we are taking the country back from the grips of central planners who would control our healthcare, spend our treasure and micro-manage our businesses."
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