I agree, although Texas doesn’t produce the mass conservatism we are seeing in states like Georgia, Arizona and even Florida lately. The GOP regularly sends fairly moderate people to DC and to Austin. KBH and Cornyn for example, are both much less desirable than real leaders like DeMint, Rubio, and Mike Lee.
As for Illegals, I agree. It is a critical litmus test. Perry is mixed bag on the issue. He’s strong on border defense...one of the best advocates. Other than that it is mixed. Not sure who would get nominated who is great on this issues, though, looking at the field.
Michele Bachmann got a B- grade from one of the immigration watch dog groups. They other candidates did not do very well.