By Andrea Ordonez, Assistant Editorial Editor
Gov. Rick Perry rose from newcomer status to a viable presidential candidate during the Sept. 7 debate. Facing the most questions out of all the candidates, especially regarding his actions as governor of Texas, Perry deferred to federalism when addressing healthcare and the death penalty.
Despite having a personal bias towards Perry, I admire his ability to actually take a stance on issues rather than dance around them like other politicians.
While other candidates gave unclear answers about green initiatives and science, Perry stated that the economic good of the United States should serve as the major indicator of the government’s investments in science.
“The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet, to me, is nonsense,” Perry said.
In the same manner, when asked about his support for capital punishment, Perry defended his stance, receiving massive applause.
“If you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you’re involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas,” Perry said. “And that is: you will be executed.”
Aside from the audience’s favor towards his stance on the death penalty, Perry received the most criticism for calling Social Security a “Ponzi scheme.” This may ultimately hurt his support base of conservative senior citizen voters, giving way to other strong candidates such as former Gov. Mitt Romney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
Still, Perry gives a refreshing take on politics. Candidates are criticized for being pessimistic and revolutionary; however, Perry still appears to remain a strong contender for presidency.
Regardless of who becomes the GOP candidate, the debate showed the Republican Party is uniting to defeat President Obama in the 2012 election.
“I, for one, and I hope all of my friends up here, are going to repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republicans to fight each other to protect Barack Obama, who deserves to be defeated,” Gingrich said. “Whoever the nominee is, we are all for defeating Barack Obama.”
