3. Rick Perry: B+
Economic Liberty: B+
Personal Liberty: B+
Foreign Policy: B-
Honesty: B+
It may be surprising for some to see Governor Perry so high in the GOP “class,” but his record tells the whole story. Perry is a proud “Tenth Amendment conservative,” believing that the states can almost always create better policy than the federal government. Governor Perry said in a 2011 debate that Ron Paul had persuaded him that the Federal Reserve is “at the root of a lot of the problems that we have,” and has a consistent record of supporting a Balanced Budget Amendment.
Perry has also been a strong voice in supporting the decriminalization of marijuana, also saying that states should be permitted to make that decision. The former Texas Governor has also expressed concerns about the NSA spying program, likening it to something that Communist China would do. One of the only visible negatives on Perry’s resume is his continued support for foreign interventionism, as he attacked fellow GOP candidate Rand Paul as “isolationist” in 2014.
