In ascending order.

10. Social Media

He knows how to use it to his advantage. Been to his Twitter account lately? His avatar is a personal (yet clear) picture of him with a cute puppy. He talks about things other than politics, like sports and movies. He interacts. He retweets. He links to charities completely unrelated to ideological causes. He updates regularly.

9. Executive Experience

He’s serving his third term as governor. Third term. He was an executive and leader before Barack Obama was even a glimmer in the Democratic Party’s eye. No one but no one can accuse him of being unprepared to lead. In fact, he’ll have more executive experience than anyone else in the race — on either side.

8. Gun Credentials

This is Governor Rick Perry’s idea of fun. Barack Obama’s idea of fun is handing weapons over to Mexican drug cartels to give his administration an excuse to push for tighter gun control. Gun rights are a big issue for conservatives, libertarians, many Independents, and even some Democrats. Perry has the credentials. Obama has Eric Holder.

7. 10th Amendment

If I had a dollar for every time Rick Perry cited the Tenth, I’d give up this blog and retire in Fiji. And hey, you know what’s hot with libertarians and conservatives, especially in today’s world? Exactly.

6. Not Afraid

The guy has come close to threatening to secede if the government gets any more oppressive and infringes on any more constitutional rights. You think he’s gonna be afraid to stand up for himself (and his ideas) in a debate?

5. The Comeback

Barack Obama inherited George W. Bush’s policies? So did Rick Perry. But unlike Barack Obama, Rick Perry created jobs and grew his state’s economy. No other Republican can say as much. No other Republican has as strong an argument against Obama’s “inherited” excuse.

4. Gay Marriage and Weed

Perry is a social conservative and not a big fan of drugs. But he also supports state-rights. He’s on record opposing gay marriage but thinking states should decide. He also doesn’t care if medicinal marijuana is made legal. That’s appealing to some libertarians/gays who may otherwise be cautious about voting for the Republican nominee.

3. Jobs

49% of all jobs created in America from 2009-2011 were created in Texas, under Rick Perry’s leadership.

2. Jobs

Barack Obama has presided over 9.2% unemployment and a weak economy.

1. Jobs

No one – but no one – can hit Obama as hard on the jobs front as Rick Perry. No one has the same level of credibility on jobs as Rick Perry. No one else can say, “I’ve been a job-creating machine and I’ll take those policies to Washington.” No one else.

Honorable Mention: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, and — last but not least — Jobs. Wait, there’s one more item on this list I accidentally skipped. It’s spelled J-O-B-S. Anyone know how to pronounce that? Ah, here it is:

JOB /jäb/
Noun: A paid position of regular employment

Jobs.