Members of the Texas Congressional delegation stuck up for their governor-cum-Republican-presidential-hopeful, Rick Perry, during dueling interviews this morning on SiriusXM’s POTUS radio.

Freshman GOP Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco and veteran Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson threw cold water on the camp “Niggerhead” flare-up. But Johnson minced no words in characterizing Perry’s modus operandi.

“I have seen him go the extraordinary right because he thinks that’s the way he can get votes,” she posited, pining for his “active, moderate Democrat” days in the late 1980s. 

While maintaining that she has never witnessed anything that would “clearly, overtly label him as a racist,” Johnson suggested the real issue was class, not race. “I think he is an elitist. I think he’s against poor people,” she argued.

Canseco laughed off the entire line of questioning, asserting, “He’s the furthest thing from being a racist.” (Rick Perry: flower child?)