Rick Perry finds support in new UNC student group

A new student-led support group is rallying behind conservative presidential candidate Rick Perry.

N.C. Students for Rick Perry is a chapter of a national organization, whose members say Perry, a Republican presidential candidate and Texas governor, would be a “fiscally responsible” president. His emphasis on job creation has also won students over.

“We’re fired up. We’re pumped up,” said UNC student Brendan Madigan, who leads the N.C. chapter of the group.

Madigan said the organization has been garnering support by spreading the word through College Republican groups and its Facebook page.

“Rick Perry has created an environment with less regulation to allow businesses to flourish,” he said.

Jason Roberts, a political science professor at UNC, said Perry appeals more to the conservative base of the GOP, which might help him more in a primary than a general election.

“Perry has taken the GOP field by storm,” Roberts said. “He is plain spoken and is very effective on the stump.”

Daniel Walker, vice chairman of N.C. Students for Rick Perry, attends Guilford Technical Community College, where several of his fellow classmates have also joined the group.

Walker said he’s been speaking at different political group meetings on campus to publicize the organization’s efforts.

But Nathan Westmoreland, president of the UNC Young Democrats, said Perry is a “scary” candidate.

“He wants to cut things like the (U.S.) Departments of Education and Health and Human Services and repeal Obamacare, which helped hundreds of thousands of people in (Texas) that need health insurance,” Westmoreland said.

The Young Democrats are already gathering campus support for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. The group recently ran a voter registration campaign but is currently focused on local races.

Greg Steele, chairman of UNC College Republicans, said his organization has not endorsed a presidential candidate but is happy to see the active participation in Perry’s campaign.

Other Republican candidates are also seeing some campus support, but there has not been an organized effort yet.

UNC College Libertarians member Kevin Martin said some of the organization’s members plan to campaign for Ron Paul.

“I think he is the most likely to promote our individual liberties while also maintaining responsible fiscal policy,” Martin said.

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