Rick Perry: Repentance or Expedience?

I made note of Texas Governor Rick Perry's verbal assault on Obama Care in my last post. In that post I wholeheartedly applauded him and endorsed him for re-election in the governor's race of 2010 in which he will face Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in the primary. I made my endorsement based on Governor Perry's recent swagger and bravado concerning the 10th amendment and states' rights. I firmly believe in de-centralized power, as did the founders, and the 10th amendment is integral to this. While the federal government has been steadily encroaching on the rights of the states since Lincoln obliterated them, the administration of Generalissimo Obama has been acting as if they never existed.

So naturally my ears perked up when I heard my governor broaching the subject.

To be honest with you, however (and here is my caveat), I have never really paid that much attention to Governor Perry prior to now. He was simply the successor to GWB and got my vote because he was certainly going to be better than anything the Dems managed to throw up against him. So, heretofore, he has received my vote, pretty much, by default.

Which brings me to the topic of this post. A very astute pundit I have recently made the acquaintance of, Allen Lewis, who posts at The Texas Conservative, wrote an interesting piece about Rick Perry here.

And it begs the question. Has Governor Perry had a come-to-Jesus experience concerning the Constitution and individual liberty? Or is he merely trying to grab the conservative base of the Texas Republican party before KBH can--by latching onto the grass-roots tea party movement? Is this new-found conviction or is it pre-election posturing?

What do you think? I'm hoping it's the former and fearful its the latter. Should I write him directly and ask him?