Ten Reasons To Love Rick Perry

Rich Mitchell made this comment yesterday in this post:

Can’t we ask “What reasons does this candidate give me to vote for him or her” instead of stating the reasons we hate the others?

I'm certainly guilty of both. I've spent some time detailing reasons to mistrust Newt Gingrich, based on his record and his stated plans, as well as Mitt Romney and Herman Cain (though Cain is now out of the race). I've also penned a brief synopsis of reasons to get behind Rick Perry (my candidate).

Rich also had this to say:

(...) it’s obvious – we don’t know how to love our candidate.

While I'm usually the "don't love a politician" sort, I get the message. So, here it is, ten reasons to love Rick Perry (in no particular order):

1) Using the Federal Reserve for political purposes is "treason"- I agree (as do all other sound-money folks). Devaluing our money for pretended short-term benefits undoubtedly harms our nation's economic security.

2) He gets the concept of individual rights trumping state authority. Let me cite a few examples:

From pg. 51 of "Fed Up!":

The Civil Rights Act, which, among many things, prohibited private discrimination in so-called public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants, was the glorious fulfillment of the principles of the Declaration of Independence and, ultimately, the intent behind passage of the Reconstruction Era amendments. I believe there was ample basis for the establishment of that law in that following the Civil War the people ratified three amendments, the purpose of which was to give the federal government the power to fight racial discrimination.

On the subject of Reconstruction-era acts of the states, Rick Perry has direct experience. As I noted in this post, Perry has spent considerable time as governor working to repeal modern variants of Reconstruction-era Texas gun laws intended to disarm blacks, which are now imposed on all residents of his state.

Perry's policies have borne out something else we know about individual rights: When individuals have the greatest personal autonomy to protect themselves and their property, the rule of law endures.

3) He's humble. How can we tell? He's made wonderful fun out of his "and uhh..." gaffe. Instead of being a constant source of bashing, it's now a distant memory we get a little chuckle from. Other candidates' egos wouldn't allow them that kind of self-deprecating humor- I can imagine Herman Cain doing a terrible job of rationalizing such a gaffe, the way he botched his attempt to rationalize his bizarre abortion gaffe.

4) If there were "dirt" on Perry, it would've come out by now. He's been the governor of his state for more than a decade, and he's been a national icon of the right. As he joked on Jay Leno, he's been investigated over and over again. We simply can't afford the liability of a candidate with skeletons in his/her closet.

5) As I've said before, nobody questions Rick Perry’s sincerity when he speaks. One may not agree with him on a given topic- and I do disagree with him on some things- but when he states his position, there’s no doubt he’s calling it as he sees it. Considering the weasely-ness of Gingrich and Romney, this should be Perry’s greatest selling point.

6) On jobs: Under Perry's governorship, more than one million jobs have been created in Texas while other states have been bleeding jobs. Note that he doesn't claim "he created" them; his policies have gotten state government out of the way of job creation.

7) Under his governorship, Texas went from 6th lowest state debt-to-GDP ratio in the nation to 2nd lowest(Tennessee being 1st).

8) Perry has been fighting the good fight against federal intrusion: Battling the EPA and the TSA, among others.

9) Yes, Social Security is a ponzi scheme. Let's fix it.

10) Perry has the most executive experience- and arguably, the most successful executive experience- of anyone in the race. He has more than 10 years at the helm of a state government, and his governance has been unquestionably exceptional.

So, there it is. I'm with Rick Perry. Who are you with?