There's no way Perry beats Obama. The lamestream media will bill him as another idiot from Texas, and there's already plenty of video to make their case.
Now Obama can paint Perry as dumb but Perry has the record that beats Obama head to head, so what does that say about Obama. Plus I would add that Obama is not a good debater and not a good speaker unless he has a teleprompter.
Here is the narrative
Perry=dumb racist (but has a record that crushes Obama)
Mitt=greedy racist
Newt=perverted racist
Paul=crazy racist
Those will be our choices so which one has the record to beat Obama? Only Perry.