Obviously you are way more familiar with the inner workings of the Texas legislature than I am.
And that you still give Perry a B+ is impressive.
Didn’t he try to get rid of sanctuary cities? I thought the establishment and business lobby was what stood in the way of that?
I think he would be much stronger on these issues as a president because to remain as governor of Texas he could not be too mean to hispanics and still get elected.
That’s not pandering, that’s just politics. You can’t accomplish anything out of office.
As you asked, here is how I see it: I give Perry about a B+ because, all in all, he is generally not so bad.
To start with, he is very pro life and very pro second amendment, that’s a BIG “A+” for each category. Business environment? Perry took great pride in reducing a business tax, but those of us with a bit of memory know that he was reducing the same business tax he created; yet it is fair to say that his administration is very reasonable when it comes to business issues, so I give him a B on business environment. Border issues, despite the rhetoric, I give him a B- overall (average of 10 years of Perry, he is trending up, starting off with a D and getting a bit better over the years).
He has done a bunch of good, and a bit of potential harm; but I do consider him to be a better Gov than most, and would make a pretty good Republican candidate for President. In person, he is very friendly, and he has always helped out our local party when we had a need (for example, purchasing adds in our local party newsletter, stopping by our county, etc.). I can’t think of a seriously contending candidate that would be better.
Thus, I rate Perry a B+.
If the Texas primary were tomorrow, I would probably vote for Perry. Things may change by April. I put Newt at a B. Romney is a C-. Obama, and most Democrats, are Fs.
[By the way, I put Ron Paul as an A on domestic budget, deficit, and federal spending issues; unclear on domestic social issues; but he gets disqualifying low grades on poise, foreign policy, quality of political machine, and chance to beat Obama. All in my opinion; other reasonable opinions may differ, of course.]