The 'lovable' Rick Perry

That's how Richard Cohen has described him:

A touch of sympathy swells within me when I see him on some debate platform, squinting hard to explain to a conservative audience how, on occasion, he has let his feelings get the better of him. He unaccountably felt a need to protect teenage girls from cervical cancer, and he wanted the children of illegal immigrants to get a good education.

I suspect Mr. Cohen – in his snide, politely-worded personal attacks – was running a little short of ideas for his column this week. One commenter made a rather apt comparison to something you might find under the byline of Maureen Dowd. I'm inclined to agree.