Rick Perry tries to reassure the haters that he’s really one of them: After declining to back down from his earlier comments on immigration as recently as this morning, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) seems to be changing his tune.
In an interview with Newsmax.TV, Perry referred to his remark that anyone who opposed giving tuition breaks to children of illegal immigrants was “heartless” and admitted that he was “probably a bit over-passionate by using that word.”
He’s not changing his position on the substance of the policy, but the thing that really set off conservatives was the fact that he (correctly) had called them "heartless." It’s not a surprise that he’s recanting that criticism, even though it comes on the same day that his campaign said its candidate wouldn’t change direction. As I said earlier, you could bet your last nickel that Perry was going to change course, particularly on immigration, in order to shore up his right flank. And he’s already doing it.
