I can't say that thrills me about Perry but I don't see him as a potential theocrat unlike Bachmann or Santorum.
Bachmann and Santorum may be more true believers, but they didn’t try to go imposing Gardasil on young girls. Also, they are at least from states and parts of the country where they can’t campaign on the easy religious schtick.
I don’t know how Perry could suddenly go normal after all these years—let alone disown his history.
That said, if it came down to it I would probably pick Perry for president over Bachmann and Santorum for similar reasons and not only because I believe he would be more electable.
Perry no doubt has issues like the super highway he tried to pursue from Mexico which would have let all those brokeback Mexicon trucks in to the country and his lack of enforcement on the border to name just a few.