Texas Gov. Rick Perry entered the VFW hall, guns blazing, and only misfired once – when he repeatedly referred to the place as the American Legion, until a voice from the crowd corrected him.

But for the most part, Perry appeared to be ready for the homestretch of this long Primary season, with New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation vote now less than eight weeks away.

In the first half of what amounted to a 60-minute session of campaign stumping followed by audience Q&A, Perry appeared confident as he addressed key issues, including health care and border security.

"I know people who actively support this American Legion Post," said Perry, interrupted by a man standing in the back.

"It's VFW, sir," called out a man proudly sporting a VFW cap on his head.

Perry apologized, noting he was himself an American Legion guy, and then covered a lot of ground, criticizing the current administration and characterizing himself as a "Washington outsider."

He said he is in favor of ending lifetime appointments for federal judges who "legislate from the bench." He also is in favor of a part-time Congress working for half the pay with half the office budgets working half as many hours.

"You all understand that. New Hampshire elects citizen legislators, good men and women who have private sector jobs and then they go back into their home towns and live under the laws they pass," Perry said.

After moving to a stool for a question and answer session, Perry began by quoting humorist P.J. O'Rourke, who Perry noted has New Hampshire ties.

O'Rourke has also penned several books of political and social commentary, including his most recent, "Don't Vote, It Just Encourages the Bastards," although Perry didn't say whether his O'Rourke reference came from that particular tome.

"[O'Rourke] said giving money and power to the government was kind of like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage kids," Perry said. "Well, it's time to get the car keys back. In this election the American people are ready to have some candidates who won't just tinker around the edge of the status quo. They want someone who's not just going to go to Washington, D.C., with a can of paint and paint it over; they are looking for someone who's going to overhaul Washington," said Perry.

He came out strong on the question of China raised by a gentleman in the front row who was making a correlation between a Massachusetts company owned by Mitt Romney and some questionable trade policies.

Perry smoothly stepped over that question, pointing out that New Hampshire is smart enough [about Romney and Massachusetts] to figure out the answer to that question.

Perry had to do a little more footwork when questions were posed about his stance on health care. He was pressed first by Jillian Dubois of Hudson, who wanted to know how he'd deliver health care to the millions of those living without coverage.

A follow-up question came from Dave Tiffany, 63, of Hollis, who reiterated the question, looking for Perry's solution for the "50 million Americans in this country living without health care."

"I want to know what will you do if you're president, about this really serious problem we have –  or will you fiddle while Rome burns?" Tiffany asked.

Perry assured Tiffany that as Texas governor he's not been fiddling, but rather creating "the most dynamic economy in the country," that has recently attracted major companies including Caterpillar, Facebook and eBay.

Perry reinforced his belief that managing health care should be left up to individual states to work out, creating competition and creative solutions that can be shared.

After Perry's exit from the venue, Tiffany said he was not impressed.

"He didn't really answer the question," said Tiffany, who said he came out to hear Perry, because he could. "It's easy to criticize Obamacare. I've heard enough of that; I wanted to hear about Perrycare."

Tiffany, who is retired and a registered independent, is still undecided as to who he will vote for in the Primary. But it won't be Perry, he said.

"I don't know who I'll vote for yet, either Jon Huntsman or Ron Paul -- or I'll just write someone in," Tiffany said.