Which comes first: Texas or Perry?

A recent editorial in the Austin-American Statesman attempts to address the question of where Governor Rick Perry's priorities lie. Is he fully committed to upholding his oath of office, in which he swore to "preserve, protect and defend" the laws and people of Texas? Or is he more concerned with protecting his own self interests? The author, Boyd Richie, who is the chairman of the Democratic Party of Texas, clearly has a specific idea about the answers to these questions. Richie no doubt will be pulling for the Democratic nominee for Governor during the next election, and seems to aim his editorial at voters who may be on the fence about whether to re-elect Perry in 2010. The central point of Richie's editorial is that Gov. Perry has repeatedly put his own interests ahead of what's best for Texas. He supports his point primarily by analyzing Perry's recent handling of the investigation into the Cameron Todd Willingham arson case. Richie outlines compelling evidence of Perry's mishandling of the situation in a clear and logical fashion. Having read multiple articles on this case myself, and having seen Governor Perry stumble his way through questions put to him by a television reporter about the case, Richie's arguments ring true with me on this topic. Richie brings up other examples of Perry's attempts to cover up incidents that might make him unappealing to voters -- such as the child sex abuse scandal at the Texas Youth Commission, and the Corpus Christi State School "fight club" scandal -- to establish that Perry has a history of sweeping things under the rug when to do otherwise would be hurtful to him personally and/or politically. Overall, Richie has crafted a well-researched editorial, has supported his points with compelling evidence, and has succeeded in convincing this independent-thinking Libertarian that he's right about Rick Perry.