COMMENTARY | The Christian Science Monitor reports Texas Gov. Rick Perry is expected to officially announce his presidential candidacy this week. Perry possibly might make this announcement around the time of this weekend’s straw poll release in Iowa. As Perry is predicted to enter the GOP race for 2012, here are three advantages he has over his other Republican competitors.
Perry is a strong pro-life advocate who supports defunding programs that allow abortion, such as Planned Parenthood. As a social conservative, Perry will win over a lot of the Republican votes, especially from those who are religious and oppose abortion. Although a lot of the Republican candidates are pro-life, Perry takes a hard stance on defunding and not supporting organizations and programs that get federal money for such acts. I think his stance on abortion and policies of not giving federal money to organizations that support abortion will help him win over Christians and other religious groups that stand strong on their opposition to the procedure.
Perry is also an evangelical Christian, which I believe will help him stand out among other GOP contenders and get more votes from the extreme right. Even independent voters are likely to vote for Perry because of his religious views; he is a devoted Christian, and this is often a selling point for presidents. Knowing that Perry is among the faithful will help him win votes because he is such a social and fiscal conservative, which means he will not want to spend a lot of money and also not want to see issues such as gay marriage legalized.
Perry’s support of the death penalty, including the use of the death penalty on mentally disabled people, is an advantage for him among his GOP competition. Perry’s support of capital punishment is not something a lot of conservatives like but a lot of them will still support if given the right situation. Perry also thinks that mentally disabled people should be executed even if they are lacking the full mental capacity to understand what they are doing or did wrong.
I think this is a great thing because giving a mentally challenged person the death penalty is the right thing to do; there is no gray area when it comes to right and wrong. I think Perry will see a lot of support from Democratic voters and Independents because of his support of the death penalty and this will help him come out ahead. The fact that Perry has a strong stance on crime is a great thing for this country and it will help him seem like a leader even in times of trouble.
David Grant, “Rick Perry poll numbers give big edge over GOP field”, Christian Science Monitor