As far as the presidential nomination Perrys best bet is to get himself some good national name recognition and convince people he's not a Bush clone (neither of which he's done well so far) then bow out to Romney early before he alienates the GOP establishment without whom any future national career is impossible. He's got all the qualifications; he's as quick to tell moderates gay marriage should be a state decision under the 10th Amendment and SS should be "fixed" as he is to tell conservatives SS is unconstitutional and we need an amendment to make gay marriage equally so, all while unswervingly maintaining his one true loyalty to corporate welfare and kickbacks. Unfortunately, Romney's been doing it a lot better for a lot longer and has all the powerful connections Perry lacks, so any Republican who gets in his way in 2012 will quickly be reduced to a wet spot in the road. In trying to prove the difference between him and Bush, Perry recently noted, "I went to Texas A&M; he went to Yale". That's a selling point in Brazos and Brazoria Counties but, as I'm sure you're well aware, an albatross around the neck on Wall Street (and Brazoria County already has a native son running for President anyway).

Yet if Romney weren't running or anyone but the corporate masters had any influence over the GOP nomination Perry would be a God send: Every bit the corporate shill, but with the charisma and rhetorical history so appealing to Tea Party faithful who only look at the records of people they've already decided to dislike. He's a better Reagan clone than W ever was; Perrys Ropers aren't loaners (really, it amazes me that the Bush boy with the thick Texas drawl is the one who WASN'T born in the state; JEB doesn't sound any more like that than his father does). If Romney wins the presidency, when he crashes and burns Perry would be in a great place to take over after the Democrats take their next turn pretending to be the working class party of 2016 then bending the nation over for corporate America with all the enthusiasm of Romney, Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan.

In that respect though Perry is as much the face and what passes for the soul of American government as Romney and Obama are. Romneys synthetic humanity and flip flops can't cost him the nomination because the wealthy power brokers who created the Republican Party are the only voice in choosing its nominee. That's good news for Republican partisans since I don't think Diebold can so seamlessly hack their own voting machines to make voters that irrelevant to the general election (yet). It really doesn't matter though, because whether Obama, Romney, Perry or Mickey Mouse is inaugurated in 2013 you'll keep your supply side policies. Let me know when the start working; I have something of an interest in history and the anomaly would interest me.