Perry finds his comfort zone on border security

Houston Chronicle:

 Texas Gov. Rick Perry vowed to completely secure the U.S.-Mexican border within 12 months of being inaugurated president during a GOP presidential debate Tuesday that showcased the emergence of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the go-to alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

In a debate focused on national security, Perry was quickest to the count on border issues, saying he would complete “strategic fencing” along the 1,969-mile U.S.-Mexican border, add “boots on the ground” and aviation assets such as Predator surveillance aircraft to intercept potential Iranian-backed terrorists crossing into the United States from Mexico as well as to stem the northbound flow of undocumented immigrants and illegal drugs.

The three-term Texas governor, clearly comfortable on the topic during his eighth nationally televised debate, said he would work with Mexico to achieve a new level of security and would consider sanctions against Mexican banks that handle the illicit proceeds of multibillion dollar drug cartels.

“All of those together can make that country (Mexico) substantially more secure and our border secure,” Perry declared. “As president of the United States, I’ll promise you one thing – that within 12 months that border will be shut down and it will be secure.”

Perry belittled rivals’ back-and-forth on dealing with illegal immigrants already in the country, dubbing it “just an intellectual exercise” until the border was secure enough to cut off the arrival of additional illegal immigrants.

“This conversation is not ever going to end if we don’t secure that border,” Perry declared.

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He is getting much better in these debates.  It is too bad he did not have the preparation to do better in the earlier ones.  He has left himself with much ground to make up and little time to do it.   I have noticed a new tone in the more recent debates.  There is less bickering and a stronger focus on what Obama is doing wrong.  Someone should have told the candidates to do that earlier.  It is how Gingrich made his own comeback.