Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin, author of the Right Turn blog in the Washington Post, says she was very impressed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry's appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
"The mainstream media keeps underestimating him. You can sort of understand this because he pretty much bombed out last time around, but he's a serious guy," Rubin told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"He's sort of the alternative for conservatives who want someone who, yes, is going to talk about limited government, yes can talk about federalism, but also has a real record, who has actually shown some leadership.
"He was also very good on national security issues, he's always been that way and that's a plus for him right now with the world kind of spinning out of control."
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Rubin believes Perry, a potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate, "determined on a personal level to come back and leave a better impression" of himself.
"Obviously he wants to win but it's all upside for him. He will do well if he has adequate time to prepare," he said.
"He'll be leaving office in November and he'll have nothing to do but to spend time traveling around the country and brushing up on issues. So he's going to have a much more competitive race this time."
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