Perry opponents struggle to decide the direction to attack him

AP/RCP:

Rick Perry's Republican rivals are struggling to find a coherent, easy-to-grasp argument against the Texas governor, who tops GOP presidential polls despite attacks from all sides.

Perry is the newest face in the GOP race and his opponents are determined to define him for primary voters, casting him as liberal, conservative and unelectable. They hope their characterizations of the front-runner take hold before he has a chance to sway opinions.

In fact, it's the "all sides" nature that complicates the opposition's message. Republican voters who watched last week's presidential debate and its aftermath might wonder: Should I see Perry as too conservative or too moderate?

Mitt Romney depicts Perry's criticisms of Social Security as too far to the right. "If we nominate someone who the Democrats could correctly characterize as being against Social Security, we will be obliterated as a party," the former Massachusetts governor said recently.

On immigration, however, Romney and other opponents say Perry veers too far left. The governor opposes a fence along the entire border with Mexico, and he granted in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants in Texas.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann leads a chorus that contends that Perry is too lax about individual freedoms because he wanted Texas to vaccinate all schoolgirls against a sexually transmitted disease.

This anti-Perry strategy forces voters to sort through subtleties and contradictory narratives. Fair or not, it's easier for people to grasp bold, unambiguous images of politicians as conservative or liberal, strong or weak, and so on.

Overall, Perry's record is mostly conservative. But he's parted ways with his GOP base on a handful of issues, including immigration and the vaccine for the human papillomavirus.

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No candidate will be perfect for either side.  On the whole I find Perry to be an appealing candidate, even though I disagree with him on the border fence.  His position on in state tuition looks like it is already paying dividends with Hispanic voters.  I thing Bachmann has really hurt herself with her opposition to vaccinations. She has actually dropped in the polls since her attack on Perry.