Harold Simmons was being sociable, chatting amiably with guests last evening at a cocktail party in University Park for the Crystal Charity nonprofit group. The billionaire businessman/philanthropist even agreed to talk a little about politics. But the man called the nation’s top donor to the Republican Party this year (sub. req.) also was itching to get home to watch something on TV. And it wasn’t the Democratic National Convention.
Simmons, who said his various companies are doing well these days, but not half as well as they were six months ago, was feeling good about Mitt Romney’s chances in the upcoming presidential election. “Karl Rove says we’re going to get stronger as we go along,” Simmons said. That’s a good thing, he added, because President Obama “lies–just like Hitler told the big lies.”
Asked about a DMN article saying that whether Gov. Rick Perry runs for another term will be up to Perry’s big financial backers–like Simmons–he replied that while he doesn’t “imagine [Perry] would run again,” 2014 is a long way off. “I don’t talk to him,” he said, referring to the governor. “I just give him money. That way there’s no quid pro quo.”
A little later Simmons was off, intent on catching the last part of the Cowboys-Giants game, at least.
