Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas)<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickperry/6005610000/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Gov. Rick Perry</a>/Flickr
Back in February of 2010, as he was cruising to a primary victory over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas Governor Rick Perry was asked point-blank whether he would serve out his term if re-elected—or whether he consider throwing his 40-gallon hat in the presidential race. He was unequivocal: Nothing short of an untimely death could drive him out of Austin. “I have a lot of faith in the Lord I hope he’s gonna let me live for four years and if he does I’m gonna serve out my governorship,” Perry explained.
Fast forward to today:
Rick Perry intends to use a speech in South Carolina on Saturday to make clear that he’s running for president, POLITICO has learned.
According to two sources familiar with the plan, the Texas governor will remove any doubt about his White House intentions during his appearance at a RedState conference in Charleston.
It’s uncertain whether Saturday will mark a formal declaration, but Perry’s decision to disclose his intentions the same day as the Ames straw poll — and then hours later make his first trip to New Hampshire — will send shock waves through the race and upend whatever results come out of the straw poll.
The lesson, as always, is you should never trust anyone who “goes jogging in the morning packing a Ruger .380 with laser sights and loaded with hollow point bullets and shoots a coyote that is threatening his daughter’s dog.”
More seriously, this announcement, which we’ve been speculating about for months, does stand to dramatically shake up the GOP race. Perry is the decade-long governor of the largest red state in the country and he’s coming off a headline-grabbing revival meeting at a football stadium in Houston. His state’s economy is less terrible than that of the rest of the country’s and he should have access to the deep, deep pockets of folks like Swift Boat funder Bob Perry (no relation). There are many good reasons for why he might fall flat. But don’t mistake the smirking, slow-talking governor for a—what’s the word?—flake. Just ask Hutchison.
