Our Handy Guide to the Best Coverage on Gov. Rick Perry and His Record

by Braden Goyette
ProPublica, Aug. 18, 2011, 10:58 a.m.

This is the first installment in a series of reading guides on 2012 presidential candidates.

Rick Perry has made plenty of headlines since he announced his presidential bid. But with the deluge of day-to-day coverage, it’s hard to get a sense of his actual record. We’ve selected some of the best reading on Perry to help you get oriented.

The basics:

If you want to go beyond the bio on Perry's campaign page, Texas Monthly reporter Paul Burka’s guide for Yankee journalists is a good place to start. It’s a list of eight insights gleaned from covering Perry since the 1980s, including the ways that Perry has reinvented the role of governor in Texas, and how his rural upbringing has shaped his politics.