Copyrighted Image? DMCA | Unlike Romney, the wealthy scion of a political family, Perry has a compelling (and more understandable) personal history: unlike Newt Gingrich, he's still married to his high-school sweetheart and, like former President Bill Clinton, he battled his way out of poverty to the governor's mansion. While he began his political life as a conservative Democrat, he's been a Republican since 1989 and owes his political fortunes, in part, to former George W Bush adviser Karl Rove and to Bush himself, under whom he served as lieutenant governor. |