Now, okay, that’s not a new realization; Jon Stewart even challenges Perry on it early in the interview when he asks what Perry thinks happens to these well-meaning people once they enter D.C. But challenging the dichotomy isn’t really what I’m interested in. I guess what I really want is to understand where it comes from, because I don’t see it. And it’s a new step to that understanding that struck me during the interview.

Perry’s perspective, as I understand it, suggests a model of governmental power that takes the FEDERAL–STATE–LOCAL governing spectrum and pulls (obviously) to the right, with the focal point being the STATE part of the equation. And insofar as that goes, that’s fine. It stands to reason that a politician will view his/her part of the spectrum as the focal point, and will desire a pull rightward or leftward based on the typical right/left conservative/liberal divide. So a Democratic mayor will see the local as the focal point, with a pull towards the left end of the spectrum, and a Republican senator will see the federal as the focal point with a pull to the right. (A Republican on the LOCAL level would pull towards the invisible fourth tier, INDIVIDUAL, I suppose.) This is all well and good; we elect federal officials to focus on federal issues, state officials to focus on state issues, and local officials to focus on local issues.

And that’s the key: it should be each of those levels’ jobs to focus on working that level. Federal officials shouldn’t be spending their time on individual states’ or localities’ interests, state officials shouldn’t be spending their time on national or local interests, and so on. Of course, the problem with what essentially comes down to three different (yet related) power structures all trying to assert their dominance is, well, sometimes there’s going to be conflict where their interests overlap (or are perceived to). Take an example Rick Perry offered up: gay marriage. Is that a federal issue? A state issue? A local issue? Fortunately, our system has a built-in means of resolving these conflicts: the courts. Any interest on any of those levels — federal, state, local, or individual — can turn to the courts to referee the conflict and set an objective boundary to resolve the conflict.

That all is, as I see it, the model of how our government is designed to work. But, judging by what he presented in this interview (as well as by things he and others who seem to share his general outlook have said in other venues), I don’t think Perry sees that as how it all works. I get the impression that Perry’s perception of government calcified at the state-focal, pulls-right point, and that he further thinks everyone else — regardless of their level — should be state-focal, pulls-right, too; to Perry’s point of view, that’s the alpha and omega of what government in America is. So senators, House members, the president, even judges…all of them should be focused first and foremost on making sure the states are the focal point of government, with any ancillary power going towards the local and individual levels. The federal government, as Perry sees it, should focus more on things like delivering mail, building roads, and “protecting our freedoms.” (I’m not entirely clear what-all is contained in that for Perry, but it sure sounds good, don’t it?) Any government official that doesn’t hew to that state-centric, right-pulling model, therefore, is in some way against America (“real America”, as Sarah Palin would call it).

Things get further complicated because this viewpoint isn’t just limited to government officials; Perry seems to apply it to the judicial system, too. This is what the whole “activist judges” thing is about — to his view, judges aren’t supposed to be referees between different levels and models of government, but enforcers who should be maintaining his model of government; when judges don’t make rulings that adhere to that model, they’re clearly trying to change what government in America is, and so are being activists.

If you think I’ve over-simplified or misrepresented any views in the above, let me know in comments and there could well be a follow-up to this post.