Presidents are generally pushed by Congress. If Congress places the legislation to repeal Obamacare on his desk, he would have to be criminally insane not to sign it. I frankly prefer when the Congress sets the agenda rather than the president because Congress is closer to home and these guys have to face their constituents every 2 years.
I anticipate that more and more strong conservatives will be elected to the house and senate and the conservative agenda will continue to be pushed up from the grass roots.
With that said, I think it is imperative that we elect someone who has a history of being pro-life, pro-guns and pro-states rights. For all his faults, Perry has not waivered on any of those platforms. I doubt if he will waiver if legislation promoting those ideals is put before him.
He is the only candidate with military experience which is really the principle concern of the president. He is committed to pro-life so his judge appointments should be expected to reflect his positions on that as well.
On immigration, his stated policy positions are really no different than those of Sarah Palin (who hasn't really said much of anything on the subject except for her interview with Univision).
Finally, Perry can win the general election without that much effort. All he needs to do is to show that 1) he is not Obama and 2) he is not Sarah Palin.
It will never get to his desk because there will be no repeal bill. He’ll issue some executive order suspending the most obnoxious parts of zerocare, leaving the rest intact.
There will still be a majority of libs and squishes in the Senate, so they’ll compromise in allowing zerocare to stay. It might get trimmed back, but it will NOT be repealed in a Perry administration.
Bill by bill, he will play along to get along - as you said, pushed by the permanent political class in congress who will set the agenda - and with the most abhorrent parts gone, there will be insufficient political will to undo it.
To get rid of zerocare, Bachmann is right: it needs full repeal. To get full repeal through the senate, it will take a full-court political press.
Exhibit A - Trans Texas Corridor
In 2006, both the Texas Republican and demonrat parties added planks to their party platforms to kill TTC, Perry’s pet project. Over their objections and along with cronies in the legislature, Perry kept the project alive and moving forward. He removed some of the most objectionable parts. This is why Debra Medina ran against him from the right. It finally partially died in 2009. As of 2010, it is officially dead, yet many of the private toll-roads originally part of the plan are still being built - financed by Goldman-Sachs, built by Zachry, and exclusively operated by Cintra.
The permanent political class will not give up zero care.