August 22, 2011 10:16 PM UTC

Perry Knows "Gratitude"--So Does Alex Cranberg?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Here’s a fascinating New York Times story for Colorado readers (we’ll explain why in a moment):

Two years ago, John McHale, an entrepreneur from Austin, Tex., who has given millions of dollars to Democratic candidates and causes, did something very unusual for him: he wrote a $50,000 check to a Republican candidate, Rick Perry, then seeking a third full term as governor of Texas. In September 2010, he did it again, catapulting himself into the top ranks of Mr. Perry’s donors.

Mr. McHale, a Perry spokesman said after the initial donation, “understands Governor Perry’s leadership has made Texas a good place to do business.”

Including, it turned out, for Mr. McHale’s business interests and partners. In May 2010 an economic development fund administered by the governor’s office handed $3 million to G-Con, a pharmaceutical start-up that Mr. McHale helped get off the ground. At least two other executives with connections to the firm had also given Mr. Perry tens of thousands of dollars.

Mr. Perry leapt into the Republican presidential primary this month preceded by his reputation as a thoroughbred fund-raiser. But a review of Mr. Perry’s years in office reveals that one of his most potent fund-raising tools is the very government he heads. [Pols emphasis]

That last part certainly seems to be the case–witness the recent appointment of Denver oil magnate Alex Cranberg to the Board of Trustees at the University of Texas. Unsurprisingly, it was reported last week that Cranberg is top-lining this week’s fundraiser for Perry for President at Centennial Airport. The Austin-American Statesman wrote a lengthy piece on Cranberg earlier this year, profiling his recent move to Texas, unusual appointment to serve as Trustee at the University of Texas, and rapid assimilation into Texas politics under Perry.

To be clear, nobody is saying the same kind of obvious hard-money quid pro quo that apparently existed between Perry and the pharmaceutical startup receiving millions in Texas government grants exists between Perry and Cranberg. Wealthy oilman Cranberg has no need of Texas government money, but he does have a right-wing activist interest in education issues–and we’ve heard he remains bitter about no longer serving on the Board of Trustees at Metropolitan State College of Denver, a position he lost after the law was changed to require politically balanced college boards in Colorado. Cranberg’s conservative political activism on Metro State’s board apparently did make him a great fit for Gov. Perry and the University of Texas, however!

Quid pro quo, it should be noted, comes in many flavors.