A three-page TIME profile of Rick Perry spells out the pros and cons he would bring to the presidential race after 10 years as Texas governor.
Among the more interesting passages is a comparison between Perry and a former Northeastern governor:
[I]f Perry has a secret weapon, it is his appeal to the rainbow coalition that is now the Republican Party — from veterans to fiscal hawks, gun-rights advocates to religious conservatives, Constitution-waving libertarians to America-firsters. And unlike Romney, Perry was present almost at the creation of the Tea Party, attending some of its founding events and singing its praises early on. During his 2010 campaign, Perry often looked past Austin to attack Washington instead, condemning the 2008 TARP bailout and dismissing the “country-club Republicans.” While Romney is typically buttoned up, Perry does these riffs with a visceral passion that his Massachusetts rival never attains. Two years ago, Perry starkly condemned Obama’s government with “This is an Administration hell-bent on taking America towards a socialist country.”
