[Perry] Iowans want to see Perry live, not on TV

PERRY,IOWA - Rick Perry will be in Iowa to participate in a family values forum Saturday evening, but he has yet to light in the small Iowa town that bears his name...

"You can't win this state without showing up," said Phil Stone, a retired high school history teacher and current Perry city councilman. The lifelong Republican favors former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney,....

...........Neither the tea party nor evangelical Republicans have made much of a splash in Perry. "That's mostly the mega-churches over in Des Moines," Pattee said.

Bob VanderPlaats, the minister and evangelical activist who organized Saturday's Thanksgiving Family Forum in Des Moines, doesn't play well in Perry.

"Previously, a lot of religious people didn't get involved in politics," Stone said. "I prefer it that way."

Statewide, evangelicals in recent years have exerted an outsized influence over the GOP caucuses. Since 1988, when televangelist PatRobertson finished second, they have been a key component in deciding the top three finishers.

VanderPlaats, whose key issue is same-sex marriage, is highly influential in the state. He and his organization, the Family Leader, introduced a 14-point marriage pledge last summer that opposes anything but one-man/one woman marriage. He has said the Family Leader would wait to endorse until after Saturday's forum and would not endorse anyone who had not signed the pledge. So far, only Bachmann and former PennsylvaniaSen. Rick Santorum have signed.

Bachmann, Perry and Santorum continue to vie for the social conservative vote, but all three are in single digits in the polls. Romney, businessman HermanCain, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Congressman RonPaul are in a dead heat at the top in the most recent Bloomberg News Poll.

With 60 percent of likely caucus-goers telling pollsters they're still open to changing their minds and 10 percent saying they're undecided,...

Pro-Life, Marriage Groups Release 2012 GOP Scorecard “……Only three candidates – Perry, Santorum, and Bachmann – support every issue on the scorecard and have signed both pledges. The other candidates have either not signed one of the pledges or have not indicated support of one of the social conservative issues.”……

Rick Perry Gets A Grade on Abortion From Texas Pro-Life Groups “The big question in the Republican presidential race is whether or not Texas Gov. Rick Perry will throw his name in the hat for the GOP nomination to face pro-abortion president Barack Obama. If he does, Texas pro-life groups give him high marks.

“Governor Rick Perry has always championed the pro-life cause, tirelessly advocating for the sanctity of innocent human life in numerous ways,” Texas Right to Life executive director Elizabeth Graham tells LifeNews.com.

Governor Perry has worked alongside Texas Right to Life, helping shepherd our pro-life bills and eagerly supporting our measures,” Graham said. “As governor of Texas, he has intervened to stop anti-life legislation on a number of occasions, and he has helped clear obstacles when necessary.” ………….

Texas Gov. Rick Perry blasted pro-abortion President Barack Obama on pro-life issues "Perry said that, under Obama “our federal tax dollars can now be used to fund abortion all over the world. With the stroke of a pen, abortion essentially became a U.S. foreign export......."

”Perry has pleased pro-life advocates in Texas many times with signing pro-life legislation — most recently signing an ultrasound bill allowing women to see them before an abortion and hopefully changing their minds on it. He has been strongly supported by pro-life groups. Perry supported or signed into law the Women’s Right to Know Act and the Prenatal Protection Act in 2003, parental consent law in 2005, and funding for alternatives to abortions in 2007 and 2009."

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Perry's push for the sonogram bill has fortified his long-standing ties to family values and pro-life groups but it has also made him a target from other circles.

"We would aggressively work to defeat him [Perry], of course," said Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, which describes itself as non-partisan but typically backs Democrats. Star Telegram

Margaret Carlson’s take on Perry She hoping he won’t run against Romney, so made an “ick” list about him including:

……”This year, Perry signed into law "emergency legislation" forcing a woman seeking an abortion to have a sonogram, after which she'll be told everything about the fetus. And after Texas's anti-sodomy law was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003, he supported the state legislature's refusal to remove the law from its books and called the justices "nine oligarchs in robes."………….

It is an interesting article because the anti-Perry Houston Chronicle uses the town of Perry, Iowa (with high Hispanic population numbers) to try and paint Rick Perry into a corner with conservatives. But those who know Perry's record on border security know he would be THE candidate to seal it, kill off cartels and no amnesty-- and it all gels well with his life record of family/marriage and faith.

I just posted another thread (link below) that goes more into the family, religious values of the growing Hispanic vote.

Understanding these issues will make or break a GOP win in 2012.

Is GOP missing chance to grow? (Hispanic vote)

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