Weigel

Rick Perry’s Ghostwriter Moves to the Senate

Erick Erickson informs his conservative readers that Sen.-elect Ted Cruz, the agreed-upon star of the new GOP class, has picked Chip Roy as his chief of staff. Why they should be happy:

Chip currently works for Governor Rick Perry. If you’ve ever read Governor Perry’s book Fed Up!, well, you know Chip Roy as the guy who helped put pen to paper for the Governor and helped shape Governor Perry’s thinking on federalism issues.

That represents no change from what we expected – Cruz was always going to join the Mike Lee/Rand Paul Appeal to Reason caucus. It’s just good to see that the book used by Mitt Romney to brand Rick Perry as a dangerous libertarian is going to have a second life. For a little while in 2011, a few conservatives thought that Perry’s derision for the entitlement state had found its moment. It hadn’t. But a senator doesn’t need to appeal to primary voters or swing votes in Ohio. He needs to make arguments and introduce daring bills.