Ponnuru faces reality. How, for example, does Perry win a general election on the issues he has already firmly attached himself to:
Texas Governor Rick Perry has suggested that Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional and that they should be replaced by state-run programs. There’s a reason no Republican candidate since 1964 has run on a platform anything like this one on entitlements: Both programs are extremely popular.
Perry has also suggested that he disapproves of the New Deal, seeing it as a moment when the federal government began to exceed the constitutional limits of its power. He hasn’t said he wants to undo the New Deal, but it’s not out of bounds for Democrats to make the charge, given the importance he attaches to constitutionalism.
Agreed. In Perry, the Dems have someone who hates the whole concept of social security and Medicare. They used to fantasize about such an opponent. And Obama's current weakness is tempting the GOP to dig even deeper into holes that will be impossible to get out of next year. They really intend to again prevent someone with pre-existing conditions from getting health insurance. They want to abolish the EPA. This is not an electorally viable platform, and yet the signs suggest that only Huntsman understands the gravity of the over-reach.
The Dish 