Rick Perry Is Running Out of Time

Perry's choice comes with a choice for conservatives

Texas Governor Rick Perry could be a contender.

As the governor of Texas, Perry already has a leg-up on many other Republican presidential hopefuls. Texas is the largest Republican stronghold in the United States, and Perry has already demonstrated that he can win there. Moreover, Perry enjoys a very positive buzz among conservatives, many of whom are still waiting for the right candidate.

Perry could be a contender. But first he has to decide if he's going to run for President.

With only fifteen months to go until November 2012, and only seven months until the February, 2012 Iowa caucuses, Perry is at risk of losing the precious time needed to build his base outside of dedicated conservative circles and the state of Texas.

Many American conservatives are still waiting for what they deem to be a "true" conservative candidate. Mitt Romney has been judged to fall far short of the expectations of these individuals, and many of them look to Perry as someone who can both satisfy their ideological demands and defeat President Barack Obama.

Perry currently has an exploratory committee exploring Perry's prospects as a Presidential candidate.

But those waiting on baited breath for word from Perry need to consider two basic scenarios: the first is one in which Perry decides to run for President, even with no guarantees.

The second scenario is one in which Perry -- who is already secure in the Texas governor's office for another two years -- chooses not to run for President, and these individuals will have to learn to make do with the field of candidates making themselves available.

These individuals will need to learn a pivotal lesson from 2010: the perfect is the enemy of the good.

In 2010, many conservatives turned their nose up at Senator John McCain, judging him to not be a good enough conservative for them. The result as President Barack Obama, one of the worst disasters the United States has ever seen -- by nearly any measure.

If American conservatives decide to stay home on election day 2012 and the result is another term for Obama, they may have no one to blame but themselves, and their fellow conservatives may have nobody to blame but them.

It's not unreasonable to suspect that they may already be to blame.

These individuals should start preparing themselves now to make a difficult choice that may be foisted upon them: put their ideological vanity, or watch the disaster continue.