If the Friday morning crowd at CPAC was sleepy, Texas Gov. Rick Perry woke it up.
Kicking off day two of the annual conservative gathering just outside Washington, D.C., Perry spent the majority of his remarks speaking about states and the nation’s conservative governors who trust individuals more than “the machinery of government.” But for all of the speech’s passion during its middle portions, the 2012 presidential contender spoke through sustained applause at the conclusion in a takedown of an overreaching federal government.
“Get out of the healthcare business! Get out of the education business. Stop hammering industry,” Perry roared, the volume of his requests certainly audible to the Capitol and the White House just a few miles down the road. “Let the sleeping giant of American enterprise create prosperity again!”
Perry built on the momentum by telling the fired up crowd — “my fellow conservatives” — that it possessed the power to carry forward the nation’s hopes.
“You are the path to the future — a light on a distant shore,” Perry said, gesturing with both hands. “And you represent the renewed hope that America can be great again.”
Check out the video of Perry’s stirring outro, via the Washington Examiner, below.
Later in the morning, Perry was scheduled to participate on a panel discussing criminal justice reform. But he broadened his role of panelist to include handyman when someone’s iPad encountered a hiccup.
@jameshohmann the same Rick Perry who told folks to “follow me on Tweeter” back in ’11.
— Gabriel Debenedetti (@GDebenedetti) March 7, 2014
