I have not supported Perry then or now.
I am merely pointing out that everything that he is being accused of today, that is since the last so-called “debate”, had been known about him much earlier, since he entered the Presidential race. Nothing new about Rick Perry has emerged. Somebody had not been paying attention and allows others to lead him by the nose, that is all. Shocking, shocking that gambling is going on here.
Perhaps you're missing the point of all these angry posts, RC. Sure, Rick Perry's dismal record on illegal immigration is well known to most Freepers, but what's galling everyone, is the fact that he insulted most conservatives by calling us "heartless" for not pandering to illegals as he has.
He actually had a chance to convince conservative voters that he really does believe as we do; that yes, illegal immigration is a national scourge, but that he's had to handle it differently as a Governor, than he would as a president.
It would have stretched credulity, but he might have been able to make the case convincingly enough. Instead, he blurted out the one thing that cemented conservatives' worst suspicions about him.
On top of that, he went on Hannity (I think) the following day, and repeated it! I'm sorry, but there's no retreat from that position now. He grabbed hold of one of the deadly third rails of US politics and short-circuited any chance he had at the nomination.