Texas Gov. Perry: Repentance will Help US Find Its Economic Way

It is reported that when the Austrian statesman Prince Metternich was informed that a major European leader had died, his response was "I wonder why he did that?" This story may be apocryphal but it reflects the tendency in the political world to interpret every action in terms of a political cui bono - who benefits - politically from the action.

It was therefore to be expected that the "Response" day of praying and fasting in which as yet undeclared presidential candidate Texas Governor Rick Perry attended would be interpreted in a political light. Perry' sponsorship and attendance was grasped as his ultimate claim to the critical Republican religious base in early primary states such as Iowa and South Carolina, in a move to mop up the votes that in 2008 went to Mike Huckabee.

Perry unabashedly put his religious convictions up front, and those who shared his sentiments were now expected to back him.

It did not help that in Perry's 10-minute presentation, complete with a reading from the Prophet Joel that Jews read on the Sabbath of Repentance between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, he kept clear of politics.

He prayed for the president, he prayed for the people who had lost jobs and he prayed for the anger in the halls of government to subside. He made sure to point out that the Creator was "wise enough to not be affiliated with any political party."

Nor did it cut much ice with most of the analysts that Perry's religiosity is not something newly discovered in time for the presidential elections of 2012. He initiated a similar fast and prayer day in response to a long drought in Texas (a response that traditional Jews will find familiar as it has its source in Biblical and Talmudic texts).

The explanation may very well be somewhere in the middle and go deeper than political considerations. Anybody viewing pictures of the participants who braved the heat and traffic jams to reach the Houston Stadium, some coming from as far away as Florida and Iowa, could see that they subscribed to Perry's message that "as a nation, we have forgotten who made us, who protects us."

If Perry gets the Republican nomination, what will be tested is whether the message that America's current economic predicament is related to straying from basic values including religious ones, resonates in wider circles.

With the collapse of an economy predicated on consumption, in some cases conspicuous consumption, and a feeling that the various experts have no magical solutions, the public may be receptive to this message.

If Perry soars in the Republican Party, one can expect the Democrats to rally their base by portraying Perry as a person who tramples upon the American tradition of separating church and state.

This is not something totally new in American politics. Although both parties will cringe at the comparison, a somewhat similar situation existed in 1976 when the United States was reeling from Watergate and the defeat in Vietnam. Born-again Christian Jimmy Carter was able to rally voters who believed in the need for a return to religious values. With the U.S. in a far more troubled state economically today, Perry may succeed in doing the same.