In a Friday interview with CBS' "The Early Show," top Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod questioned Perry's record on job creation, suggesting that Texas's unemployment rate - which, at 8.2 percent is one point less than the national average - was a product of natural advantages rather than good governing.
"I don't think many would attribute[Texas' unemployment rate to the leadership of the governor down there," Axelrod said. "He's been the beneficiary down there of the boom in oil prices and obviously that state like Texas is going to benefit from that - and increased military spending because of the wars, because Texas is home to many military bases.
When asked about Perry's criticism of President Obama's jobs record, Axelrod, in an apparent attempt to downplay Perry's seriousness as a presidential candidate, reminded CBS News' Rebecca Jarvis that "he's also called for secession from the United States of America."
According to statistics from the Federal Reserve and Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas created 262,000 new jobs between June 2009 and June 2011 -- half the nation's 524,000 payroll gains. But according to the BLS, many of those were minimum wage jobs, as the number of minimum wage workers in Texas rose from 221,000 in 2007 to 550,000 in 2010. And while Texas has created 1.2 million jobs during Perry's tenure, the state population has grown by 4.3 million.
Perry, who is expected to be announce his candidacy on Saturday, will likely become an immediate frontrunner for the nomination upon entering the race. Many have already pegged him as the biggest threat to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's candidacy.
But as Perry readies a handful of campaign appearances this weekend - the same weekend of Iowa's famous straw poll - some question the wisdom of his apparent stab at overshadowing the crucial early caucus state's political festivities.
Perry’s nascent presidential campaign is not expected to rest after this weekend’s launch. Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H., confirmed that he’s scheduled to meet privately with Perry next Wednesday. He also confirmed a separate meeting with the first-in-the-nation primary state’s only Republican senator, Kelly Ayotte.
Neither has decided whom to endorse, but both have been courted heavily by the presidential field.
Unlike others in the race, Perry has credibility with the at-times warring camps of the GOP’s primary electorate. The pro-business tax-cutter who has presided over Texas’ recent economic growth also is a devout social conservative with deep ties to some of the nation’s evangelical leaders and Christians who dominate the pivotal Iowa caucuses.
But Perry also has never run a national campaign before, and it’s unclear whether his Texas swagger and sometimes unorthodox policy positions will sit well with GOP primary voters outside his state. Another open question is whether he can raise the money necessary to mount a strong campaign against those who have been in the race for months or more.
He may face fierce opposition from secular groups and progressives who argue that his religious rhetoric violates the separation of church and state and that his belief that some groups, such as the Boy Scouts of America, should be allowed to discriminate against gays is bigoted.
Within the Republican Party, Perry has opponents among moderates who question his understanding of national and international policy, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who ran against him for governor in a bitter 2010 primary race.
An early adopter of tea party rhetoric, Perry even has some opponents in the movement. They complain he hasn’t taken strong enough stances on state spending and illegal immigration, in part because as governor Perry signed a law making Texas the first state to offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants and blasted a proposed border fence as “idiocy.”
But before he starts pumping up supporters and wooing detractors, Perry will need to raise name recognition outside of Texas and conservative circles along with funds to fill a presidential campaign coffer. None of the money he’s raised for Texas elections can be used in a national race, so he is starting from scratch.
The governor lags well behind previously announced candidates in both campaign workers and fundraising, mostly because he denied any interest in the presidency until late May. But the story he tells of having no interest in higher office until friends and family persuaded him to join the race adds to his carefully cultivated image as a Texas cowboy reluctantly riding into Washington to save the day.
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