Perry shares many of Romney’s major selling points: He’s a smart, fiscally prudent pro-business guy with gubernatorial experience. Plus, he was in the Air Force, worked on the family cotton-farming business, and is a personal cheapskate — the campaign ads write themselves. He holds the powerful perch of chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association. And he’s good at creating jobs, which is what Americans want regardless of party affiliation right now: The L.A. Times points out that “Perry’s state has created more new American jobs in the last four years alone than all the other 49 states combined,” a soundbite-ready stat. He also didn’t back a universal health-care bill and isn’t a Mormon — which might be even bigger selling points in the GOP primaries. If Perry opts in, skipping Iowa might be a move that Romney will live to regret.