Politics & Power Quote by Rick Perry

Perry’s line isn’t trying to persuade with evidence; it’s trying to brand an opponent with a storyline. “In Michigan” works as a cautionary postcard from a swing-state economy that, around the recession-era auto collapse, was already a national symbol of decline. He borrows that ambient dread, then pins it to “a liberal democrat” as if one governor’s ideology could be the single lever on a global downturn. The move is less policy argument than political telegraph: Democrat equals taxes, taxes equal stagnation, stagnation equals humiliation.

The phrasing is built for a rally, not a white paper. “And guess what?” signals a punchline; it invites the audience to feel in on the joke and to pre-approve the conclusion before it’s stated. Then comes the blunt, toilet-grade metaphor: not elegant, but memorable, a bit of class warfare by tone. It suggests not just failure but a kind of uncleanliness, a moral disgust attached to government action.

The cleverness, such as it is, lies in the small sleight of hand: “raised taxes and kept their government programs at the same level.” No new services, just higher cost. That’s the nightmare scenario for anti-tax voters, framed as the typical product of “liberal” governance: paying more for the same. He’s also preempting the counterclaim that taxes fund benefits by insisting there were none.

Underneath, it’s an audition for contrast politics: Texas-style low-tax swagger versus Rust Belt doom. Michigan becomes less a place than a prop.