Gov. Rick Perry's outsized Texas swagger is coming to the heart of blue state America.
As part of his ongoing effort to lure new business to the Lone Star State, next week the conservative Republican governor and former presidential candidate is taking his economic development road show to New York and Connecticut — two solidly Democratic states whose politics couldn't be any more different than Texas'.
The visit follows earlier incursions this spring in two other noted Democratic strongholds, Illinois and California, where Perry also preached a low-tax, anti-regulation message that runs counter to the ethos of the dominant local political culture.
So far, Perry's TexasOne team, a coalition of corporations and chambers of commerce, has launched $1 million worth of commercials on blue state TVs, blasting the slogan, "Texas is calling. Your opportunity awaits."