When I first heard about Perry, I thought his running would be a really good thing, but then some of you Texans posted in the thread I had going on it, saying that maybe he wasn't "all that". From the current bunch of contenders, I see him somewhere near the front re: those I could vote for.
My general voting criteria are:
1) My ideal candidate, but likely not able to win.
2) I could live with the candidate winning, and they have a good chance to win.
3) Voting for them only because they're not candidate "X", and if they're crappy enough, see #1.
For CA state elections, I've completely given up on 2 & 3, and I only vote for #1. For national elections, I'm still kind of wishy-washy on voting on my principles only. Right now I see Perry in category #2. Romney is in category #3.