Rick Perry Visits San Diego

Last night, I joined as many as a thousand other Republicans to see Texas governor and now US Presidential candidate, Rick Perry. Perry had a slew of supporters and filled up an airport hanger with enthusiastic people waving signs. I was stuck in the back as opposed to when I met Herman Cain and marched right up to him for a picture.

Perry made points similar to those he's made in other speeches. Perhaps his most convincing pitch was this ad for president.

My take on Perry is that if he does what he says, he will make an excellent president. My only hesitation is that I would like to really pin down exactly what he wants to do (is it wrong to be suspicious of a politician's word during a campain?). Perry doesn't have the most consistent history, as he was formerly a Democrat, and supported Al Gore for president, but in recent years, he's been terrific.

I have read Perry's book Fed Up, which was published less than a year ago. If he employs his ideas outlined in his book as president, America will make a complete U-turn for the best.

Ironically Perry says in his book that people will accuse him of writing his book to seek higher office, and that nothing could be further from the truth -- being governor of Texas is the best job in the world.

Previously, I had mentioned that I thought Cain was perhaps the most electable GOP candidate against Obama, uniting Tea Party with mainstream. Statistics are now showing that Perry is polling best among GOP candidates against Obama.

This makes sense because if the 2012 election will be about jobs, then I don't understand how Obama can beat Perry. On the issue that Obama has failed so miserably on since he started, Perry has an unmatched history of growing jobs in his state. Even GOP candidates, who some may claim have better ideas, can't boast of the actual results that Perry holds, which I believe makes him a very formidable candidate.

Based on the enthusiasm from last night, Perry seems like he has unprecedented momentum. And he seems to have the tools to win and talks a great conservative policy, we just need to make sure he follows through.

One final thought for California Democrats: One could make the argument that a lot of Texas's job growth was partially connected to all of the bad legislation in Sacramento. If Perry won the presidency based on his jobs track record, wouldn't CA Dems have to wonder if they would have tried to be a little more business-friendly in California and not pushed high taxes and anti-business laws such as AB-32, would Perry still be able to boast of being the guru of job creation?

Best of luck to Rick Perry and the rest of the GOP candidates.