On Tuesday's Early Show, CBS targeted Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry by using their 'Fast Draw' animators to depict the Texas governor as gun-slinging, right-wing extremist. Cartoonists Josh Landis and Mitch Butler turned to a Texas journalist who claimed that Perry "would turn back the clock. He would take America back to where there was basically no safety net."
The largely animated segment [1] focused on Perry as part of "a contest to find out who will be 'America's Next Top Republican,'" a parody of the TV show "America's Next Top Model." After labeling the governor a "true believer," Landis noted the Texas politician's beginnings in "the dusty little town of Paint Creek," highlighting how "he bathed on the back porch," even depicting this with feet hanging out of a bathtub.
Later, Butler emphasized how Governor Perry is apparently "one of the country's most religious and socially conservative governors." His collaborator added, "Governor Perry has called Social Security a failure and a Ponzi scheme," and turned to Paul Burka, the executive editor of Texas Monthly, who used a oft-used liberal talking point to attack the Republican: "He would turn back the clock. He would take America back to where there was basically no safety net. I just- I don't think he believes in the safety net."
The two cartoonists then depicted Perry as a gunslinger, using a similar line of attack as liberals did against Sarah Palin in 2008:
LANDIS (on-camera): So, what does he believe in?
BUTLER (voice-over): America's right to bear arms- even in a speeding helicopter. Yes, he made it legal to hunt wild boar from the air. After all, he's the kind of governor who would shoot a coyote while he's out jogging.
BUTLER (on-camera): In fact, he actually did shoot a coyote while he was out jogging.
Near the end of the segment, Butler did acknowledge that "in recent years, Texas created more jobs than any other state," but his fellow animator threw cold water on this by adding how apparently, "Texas is also one of the worst-off states when it comes to poverty, health insurance, and education."
Back in November 2008, shortly after Obama's electoral win, the Fast Draw cartoonists offered an animated defense of the President's stimulus plan [2]. Over a year and a half later, the two scolded the U.S. for squandering energy [3], and bemoaned how "most Americans don't make enough...sacrifices to save a meaningful amount of energy."
The full transcript of the Fast Draw segment from Tuesday's Early Show, which aired 45 minutes into the 7 am Eastern hour:
ERICA HILL: Last night, Texas Governor Rick Perry came out swinging against President Obama at the Republican presidential debate in Tampa.
GOV. RICK PERRY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (from Republican presidential debate on CNN): And I simply want to get America working again, and make Washington, DC as inconsequential in your life as I can. This president does not understand how to free up the small businessmen and women, or for that matter, Wall Street. I would suggest to you that people are tired of spending money we don't have on programs we don't want. (audience cheers and applauds)
CHRIS WRAGGE: As we get deeper into campaign 2012, CBS's 'Fast Draw' team of animators have been working to show you a little bit more about the candidates in the Republican race. And this morning, they focus on Rick Perry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1 (voice-over): Every four years, there's a contest to find out who will be America's Next Top Republican. Will it be Newt Gingrich, the professor; Herman Cain, the CEO; or Rick Perry, the true believer?
JOSH LANDIS (on-camera): Rick Perry says less is more.
MITCH BUTLER: Lots of politicians promise smaller government, but Perry's followers say that he's the real deal.
LANDIS (voice-over): For starters, they say, he's from a place that has less. Perry was born in 1950, in the dusty little town of Paint Creek. There wasn't much money, and he bathed on the back porch.
PERRY: We weren't rich in material things, but we were rich in faith and family. Paint Creek was a wonderful little place.
BUTLER: This was Texas, where catching a fish with your bare hands was a crime.
LANDIS: Childhood was three things- school, church, and Boy Scouts. Perry went to college at Texas A&M, which was, more or less, an all-male military academy at the time. He joined the cheerleading squad as a yell leader.
BUTLER: It might sound strange, but this was a pretty big deal, and surprisingly, it helped put him on the path to potentially become America's Next Top Republican.
Journalist Paul Burka explains.
PAUL BURKA, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, TEXAS MONTHLY. For the first time, he was in what would have been a leadership position, and he developed a toughness and a discipline that are probably his strongest attributes.
BUTLER: After cheering in college, Perry made more noise flying cargo planes for the Air Force, and in 1984, he won his first election as a state representative- as a Democrat.
LANDIS: He left the party a few years later when he saw a chance to move up as a Republican. He ultimately became lieutenant governor, and when George W. Bush left the governor's mansion for the White House, Perry moved in.
BUTLER (on-camera): Perry is one of the country's most religious and socially conservative governors.
BUTLER (voice-over): He has launched lawsuits against Washington, he calls most scientists who study climate change liars, and he challenges federal authority on issues from taxes to civil rights.
LANDIS: Burka says a president Perry would probably set his sights on entitlements.
LANDIS (voice-over): Governor Perry has called Social Security a failure and a Ponzi scheme for starters.
BURKA: He would turn back the clock. He would take America back to where there was basically no safety net. I just- I don't think he believes in the safety net.
LANDIS (on-camera): So, what does he believe in?
BUTLER (voice-over): America's right to bear arms- even in a speeding helicopter. Yes, he made it legal to hunt wild boar from the air. After all, he's the kind of governor who would shoot a coyote while he's out jogging.
BUTLER (on-camera): In fact, he actually did shoot a coyote while he was out jogging.
LANDIS (voice-over): Catching giant catfish with your bare hands, also called 'noodling'- well, Perry made it legal.
BUTLER: And these days, Texans have less time for noodling because, in recent years, Texas created more jobs than any other state.
LANDIS: But Texas is also one of the worst-off states when it comes to poverty, health insurance, and education.
BUTLER: This former Aggie is still a yell leader, of sorts, and people are listening.
BURKA: Perry is what the Republicans have been waiting for. He is the real deal.
LANDIS: And get this, Rick Perry has never lost an election, but then again, he's never tried to become America's Next Top Republican.
HILL (on-camera): And that was Mitch Butler and Josh Landis of 'Fast Draw.'