Full Name: James Richard "Rick" Perry

D.O.B.: March 4, 1950

Offices Held: Texas Governor (2000-    ), Texas Lieutenant Governor (1999-2000), Texas Agriculture Commissioner (1991-1999), Texas State Representative (1985-1991)

Why He'll Win: Underwhelmed with their choice of candidates, Republican primary voters in 2012 pined for a candidate who could be as conservative and God-fearing as they were but could actually knock off Obama in the general election.  The governor of the Lone Star State for the past decade, Rick Perry saw the Texas-sized opening in the field and jumped in late.  As the most high-profile Southerner in the race (sorry, Newt), Perry stands a good chance of doing well in the early primaries, which are front-loaded with Southern states.  And because he's held elected office for many years and actually, you know, gotten stuff done (sorry, Michele), Perry has an actual legislative record he can run on.

Why He'll Lose: Unfortunately for Perry, his decade as governor means he has an actual legislative record he'll inevitably have to run against. Perry stumbled almost immediately out of the gate with poor debate performances, including one in which he suggested - outrageously - that conservatives ought to care about children's education.   And while he may yet win his party's nomination, most independent voters still have fresh memories of a certain other Texas governor who became president and, well, we all know how that turned out.

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