That’s Perry: waving away quibbles about parental rights and executive power with a hanky of compassion. In their second debate, when Bachmann noted that the vaccine order benefited Merck, which had donated to Perry’s campaigns, Perry rebuked her: “If you’re saying that I can be bought for $5,000 …” And then, as everyone braced for a thunderbolt, Perry paused and concluded: “I’m offended.”…

Yes, Perry talks like a cowboy. Yes, he’s a hardliner on taxes, Social Security, abortion, and lots of other issues. But there’s a pattern in his violations of the Tea Party line, and it permeates everything he says and does. He’s a feeler, not a thinker, and he’s up against a hyper-rational candidate running on a message of competence. Ultimately, their fates could be decided not by who’s more conservative, but by whether Republicans vote with their brains or their hearts.