When Texas Gov. Rick Perry was invited to address the Georgia Public Policy Foundation's legislative briefing last week, he was repeatedly reminded that it was to be a nonpartisan affair and that his address should focus on policy, not politics.
Now, supporters of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney say Perry violated that pledge. Perry and Romney are fighting for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
In his speech, Perry never mentioned Romney by name but many repeated references to his opponent's time as governor of the Bay State. He also repeatedly slammed President Barack Obama.
Perry was invited to the event before he joined the campaign, but he and his staff were told before and after his announcement that the briefing should stick to policy.
Kelly McCutchen, president of the foundation, said Perry was invited to speak in July, before his Aug. 13 decision to run for president. Perry was asked to discuss the three main topics of the conference: tax and lawsuit reform and criminal justice.
"We honored our invitation after he announced his campaign, but we stressed repeatedly that this was a policy speech and not a political speech," McCutchen told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
While Perry did touch on those topics, he largely did it by contrasting what he said was his record with that of Massachusetts and of the Obama administration.
"As Republican voters decide who is going to be best suited for this country and take it in a new direction by stopping the spending spree and the scrapping of ‘Obama-care, ‘ I'm confident we're going to choose a nominee that governed with conservative principles, " Perry said in his speech. "Not one whose health care policies paved the way for ‘Obamacare.'"
That last bit was a clear shot at Romney, who, while governor, championed a plan that required Massachusetts residents to have health insurance -- the so-called individual mandate that is a center piece of Obama's health care plan.
Romney supporter Eric Tanenblatt, who was at the conference, said the speech "was billed as a policy address, but was far more political. It probably was offensive to some people who spent the day thinking they were going to a policy conference, not a political conference. He gave a political speech."
Also in the audience was Gilmer County businessman Joe McCutchen, Kelly McCutchen's father. The elder McCutchen is a huge Romney supporter and said he was "disappointed" in Perry's talk.
"I was very disappointed that Governor Perry violated what Kelly had told him," Joe McCutchen said.
The Perry campaign said the Texas governor "was grateful" for the opportunity to speak to the foundation. Spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said Perry simply "highlighted policies that have not and will not help improve the state of our country’s economy. Gov. Perry has a proven record of fiscal conservatism and job creation, and he shared his plans to take that strategy to Washington to turn the national economy around and get America working again."
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