PERRY'S LINE – AT 12:14 P.M. ET:  Former Governor Rick Perry of Texas is making a serious run for the presidency.  He should be regarded as a credible candidate.  Although he showed himself to be woefully unprepared when he ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, he has made the necessary corrections.  He brings a fine record as governor of Texas.  His argument is that governors make better presidents.  From The Hill:

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) says that governors are much better suited for the presidency than senators — a useful argument for him to make as he looks to position himself for a potential 2016 bid against a field likely to include several senators.

“Governors have to make choices every day. Governors are judged on the results of what we do,” Perry told The Daily Caller Friday. “Senators talk.”

He added, “United States senators, by choosing to go into that line of work, don’t get to do that. They don’t get to learn, or to exhibit their leadership ability and have clear results of their actions.”

While the 2016 Republican field is hardly set, potential candidates who are current or former governors include Chris Christie (N.J.), Scott Walker (Wis.), Jeb Bush (Fla.), Mike Huckabee (Ark.), John Kasich (Ohio), Mike Pence (Ind.), Bobby Jindal (La.), and Perry. Also at the center of speculation about running are serving Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Ted Cruz (Texas), and Lindsey Graham (Ala.) as well as former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.).

Perry said that someone who had served as governor was typically a “grizzled vet,” and asked rhetorically whether the country would want someone who’s all talk, or all action.

“Would you rather have someone who talks about aviation a lot and really gives a great speech about aerodynamics and about navigation and about weather and about all of the different things a pilot needs to know, but have only about 100 hours of being behind the yoke of an airliner?" he said.

“Or would you rather have a 10,000-hour individual who has had to fly through storms?”

COMMENT:  It's a powerful argument, and it will be tested well in 2016, when the GOP has a number of senators and governors running at the same time.  The Dems have Hillary, whose executive experience is extremely limited.  She was secretary of state, but the executive aspects of that office are minimal.  It's a traveling salesman job, and she never made a sale.

Perry would probably make a very good president, but his poor performance in 2012 continues to dog him.  And other governors, particularly Scott Walker of Wisconsin, are seen as more "current."  Still, Perry is not a man who loses elections.  I'd watch him closely.

January 31, 2015