About 150 people paid a minimum of $1,000 to attend a fundraising breakfast for Republican Gov. Rick Perry of Texas in Knoxville. Host committee members paid $2,500 each to his presidential campaign.
He also had fundraising events in Memphis and the Nashville area (where the crowd was said to be about 200.).
More on the Knoxville stop from the News Sentinel:
U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. was in attendance. So was Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, who endorsed Perry as his presidential candidate of choice last summer.
“We feel like he (Perry) has this ‘it’ factor we need to take this country to the next level,” said Ramsey.
Media was not allowed in for the fundraiser, but Perry hammered home a familiar message of jobs, jobs and more jobs in an impromptu press conference held behind the Fox Den Clubhouse.
“(It’s about) jobs and how to get America working again,” Perry said.
“If we talk about anything other than that, that’s a diversion. Until we have an economy in this country that’s growing, nothing else really matters. We’ve got to get rid of Obamacare and all of the regulations that are killing us.”
Perry said he’ll use Texas as a model for creating jobs by lowering the tax burden and getting government off the backs of small businesses: “For the last 10 years in Texas, we’ve created a job machine.”
Robert Black, Perry’s travel press secretary, said he anticipates jobs to continue to be the focus of the campaign.
“In coming weeks you’ll probably see the governor put out some major policy initiatives centered on jobs — which is on everybody’s mind,” Black said.
Like Haynes, Knoxville businessman and state Rep. Jimmy Matlock, R-Lenoir City, gave rave reviews to Perry’s grasp of the issues and his down-home style.
“I was very impressed and loved his energy,” said Matlock, who said he
will likely vote for Perry, Michele Bachmann or Herman Cain.
Matlock said Perry came across nothing like the “stiff” candidate he has sometimes been portrayed as during debates.
“He is so engaging,” said Matlock. “Today, he was just so refreshing.”
After spending less than two hours in Knoxville, the Perry campaign headed off to fundraisers in three other states.
Just before his departure, at the end of the short press conference, Perry was heckled by two unidentified people with video cameras.
They told him to stay in Texas, but Perry informed them he would be coming back to Tennessee many times in the coming months.
“Tennessee is very important,” the Texas governor said. “If you look back, Tennessee has been one of them (the states) that has made the difference — it’s a swing state.”