The Hill News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is firmly entrenched in the political status quo and could dilute the GOP establishment's voting power in the 2012 presidential election, GOP candidate Ron Paul said Wednesday.

Paul, a congressman who hails from Perry's state, said that the third-term governor could bring positive elements to the race by promoting Texas's economic record. But overall, Perry won't identify with voters who are "disenchanted with the status quo."

{mosads}"The people who are sick and tired of what they are getting in Washington, they want some significant changes, and looking at this from a free market," Paul said on Fox News. "I don`t think that he is going to be that attractive to that group of people"

Paul, a libertarian Republican, has tried to distinguish himself from the rest of the presidential field by promoting his consistent, small-government voting record on fiscal and economic issues.

The congressman said last week that he is the only candidate with "credibility" on those issues, and that his vision is becomin increasingly popular in the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, the Texas governor has said that he is giving "second thought" a presidential run. Some Republicans believe Perry could fill the role of a strong dark-horse candidate and shake up the GOP field.

Perry positioned himself as a Tea Party candidate during his reelection campaign in 2010, going so far as to raise the specter that Texas could secede from the union if the federal government doesn't change its economic policies.

Perry will be able to earn a chunk of the so-called "establishment" voting bloc, Paul said, adding that Perry is identified with the Bush administration.

"I think he would dilute the establishment vote. He certainly has an appeal. He has been a governor of a large state," he said.