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I look at the totality of his ten-year record and I ask myself, what limits on the powers of government, other than the discretion of those who lead it, does Rick Perry believe exist?

I believe the record shows with acts like Gardasil and the TTC that Perry believes government should be able to do anything if an argument can be made that that thing is a good thing to do. And on this I absolutely and wholly disagree with him just as much as I absolutely and wholly disagree with Obama's identical position.

I also know Perry will lie straight out to your face. And that makes anything he claims about his own motives suspect. The best that can be said for that is that perhaps it is a refreshing change to be flat-out lied to than have to dig through a mountain of weasel words to figure it out, as is custom.

I respect that answery totally, and if you come to that conclusion after looking at a ten year record, then that’s a totally valid point of view. I would only make the following potential caveats:

A: When looking at a ten year record, keep in mind the contrast that will occur when you look at candidates with no record of being the person in charge. For example, I saw where one Bachmann backer actually bragged that she had never issued such an executive order. Well no kidding, she’s never been an executive. Just need to keep this in mind is all I’m saying.

B: Keep in mind that there is a fine line between reducing the Federal government’s power and increasing state government power. What I mean is, and it’s a damned difficult thing to judge, is that a person could be Constitutionally consistent by believing it is ok for a state or a county or a city to do something while violently opposing the Federal government’s right to do the very same thing. THIS is the underlying issue behind every decision as Governor that Mitt or Perry made that will cause conservative angst. And of course, then there’s the issue of whether any government entity should be involved, and that’s a valid argument. Like I said, this one is tough to measure sometimes.

C: There are realities - yes, ugly awful realities - of winning elections in certain states that do not extrapilate to winning nationally. As conservatives, we will NEVER get the government we want without Florida and Texas going the right way in Presidential elections. And yet, no one - NO ONE - can be successful in those two states without doing some things on certain issues - like immigration - that cause consternation. Again, this is a damned tough and sometimes nuanced road to navigate sometimes. I don’t claim to have 100% clarity here, just pointing out the intellectual problems we will face as conservatives.

For example, a Perry Rubio ticket - which would be an infinite improvement upon Obama Biden - and preferable overall to a Romney ticket - would still cause some conservative heartburn based on Texas and Florida consituents that they’ve had to answer to up to now.

Just some thoughts on why picking the right person ain’t easy and will always be somewhat unsatisfying in the end.