Perry is the one who got away. He would have stood strong on gun rights and religious freedom. Three terms and Texas is going strong under his leadership. Who cares if he’s not a smooth talking elitist.
The other day on his show, Mark Levin praised Perry for this stand. That was quite a switch from the past for Mark. But he couldn’t resist taking a swipe at him by saying that “he’s a terrible debater but he’s really impressive in this Obamacare vs states stand” - to paraphrase.
Perry isn’t a smooth talking elitist, just as you say he’s not, I agree, but he’s not that much a terrible debater as he appeared when trying to run for President right after having back surgery and still being on pain meds.
Nearly everyone forgets that he got much better as the debates went on. They forget that he knocked every personal interview out of the park. They forget that he went on Leno and was a smash hit when joking about himself and his debate performance.