[comebacknewt]

No doubt immigration is a biggie.

I don't believe the claim that he has a dream of open borders (although I know some on here do). I think he definitely wants the border secure, and he has even proposed some plans for making that happen. Having said all that, I do have problems with his position on some illegal immigration issues.

On the other hand, his stance on guns, spending, entitlement reform, taxes, regulations, tort reform, abortion, and many other issues is identical to mine. He is clearly very conservative on all of those topics.

I understand if immigration is a deal breaker for some. I really do, but the claim that Perry is a "liberal" is as mystifying to me as my support of him is to you.

Romney as a liberal I can see. McCain as a liberal I can see. Perry as a liberal I honestly don't get at all.

[sklar]

Romney as a liberal I can see. McCain as a liberal I can see. Perry as a liberal I honestly don't get at all.

I understand what you're saying. I don't think anyone here is saying Perry is a liberal...

But GWB was definitely not a liberal, and yet he grew the debt 4 trillion, he grew the Fed Govt massively, he was totally soft on immigration, he supported TARP etc.

I look at Perry and I see Bush all over again. Bush was the right guy for 9-11, but he would NOT be the right buy for 2012. IMO, for the unique situation we find ourselves in today, the right guy is ... a girl. :-)

[South40]

One cannot, in my mind, do things that are clearly liberal and then claim to be a conservative. That's like saying Susan Smith was a great mom right up until the moment when she killed her kids. Perry's not conservative on so many issues that he does not qualify as a conservative, no more than Bush, no more than McCain and certainly no more than Romney. I know many of his supporters see that also as their defense of him on those issues usually falls far short of even making sense, much less convincing someone, anyone, that that he really is a conservative.

I do not believe my definition of conservative is any different than that of others -- they are just willing to defend what I deem indefensible -- probably because they truly believe Perry is the only candidate who can defeat Obama. And I don't buy that horse squeeze either.

I've got an early day tomorrow so I'm outta here. Good chatting with you.

Cheers,

-SoFo