Otherwise, we need to support the nominee no matter who he or she is. I see Rick Perry as a clod. He's really not very conservative. The Texas DREAM Act, his refusal to support E-verify, and his talk of a bi-national health insurance with Mexico show that he's not conservative on immigration. The executive order on Gardasil shows that he's not a conservative on several issues of government power and morality. That executive order was a mandate. The opt-out process was very difficult, and by forcing every insurance company in Texas to cover the vaccine, he drove up the costs of health insurance. When the legislature overturned his order, he first tried to pretend that they couldn't and then held a press conference to attack them. He signed a letter as head of the Republican Governors' Association asking Congress to pass TARP, and now he claims that he didn't support TARP. He's all over the place on Social Security and doesn't seem to offer anything other than posturing. The only way that he can be seen as a very strong conservative is if someone measures conservatism by bombast. Otherwise, Perry is just a blowhard who isn't that conservative but won't appeal to swing voters. In spite of these things, I'll hold my nose and vote for him if he's the nominee.
And there in lies the problem. Good post. You listed all the issues where Perry fails to be a conservative. As Ann Coulter said at and event I attended a little over a month ago, being a Governor from a conservative state, may make Perry appear more conservative than he really is. Conversely, Romney's situation is the opposite. They are at LEAST equal in their conservatism. And over the years Romney has probably moved further right than where Perry is now.
If Americans weren't retarded, the crowd would have rushed the stage and tarred and feathered the con man who's family hasn't sent a single one of its members to serve in the military, would have jeered him like the Romanians jeered Ceausescu during his last speech when he started talking with a straight face about how Romneycare is different than Obamacare.
Next debate this glad handing dishonest son of a bitch needs to get a stake put through his vampire heart; he will be the death of the GOP and ensure the communist's reelection if he is not stopped.