Rick Perry declared himself a candidate for president, in a move that adds a strong new contender to the Republican nomination contest.
With his intentions now official, the Texas governor is already viewed as potentially able to knock former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney out of front-runner status. One recent opinion poll shows the two nearly tied, and ahead of others in the pack.
Governor Perry framed his speech Saturday around a simple message - that with a different occupant in the White House, Americans will be able to revive their economy and claim a brighter future.
Page one of any economic plan to get America working is to give a pink slip to the current resident in the White House," Perry told an audience in Charleston, S.C. He said that if elected he would "work every day to make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in your lives as I can, and free our families, small businesses, and states [to] create, innovate, and succeed."
The announcement comes the same day that other Republican hopefuls were appearing at the Iowa straw poll, a litmus reading of heartland voters that has long been an early milestone in the nomination process.
Though Perry was not formally part of the vote-seeking in Ames, Iowa, his campaign hopes for a show of support there through write-in ballots.
The timing of Perry's announcement may help him keep a lid on headlines about rival candidates coming out of the straw poll. But on Fox News, former Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee called the timing a "tactical mistake."
Romney can’t just coast and act like President Obama is his only opponent anymore. Rick Perry is going to go after him, and he better be ready,” said Leonard Steinhorn, a political professor at American University who pointed out that Perry “filleted” his opponent during his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
Perry’s much-anticipated announcement upstaged Tea Party darling Michele Bachmann’s win yesterday in Iowa’s presidential straw poll. Perry, a write-in candidate, edged out the former Bay State governor, who is all but ignoring Iowa.
Perry hit the early primary states of South Carolina and New Hampshire yesterday, touted his 11-year record as governor, saying 40 percent of the nation’s new jobs since June 2009 have been created in Texas.
“I feel right at home amongst people whose motto is ‘Live free or die,’ ” Perry told more than 100 Granite State voters last night in N.H. Deputy House Speaker Pam Tucker’s back yard in Greenland.
“I intend to compete for every vote in every state. This isn’t a strategy just to go work in a few places. We’re going to go all across the country,” Perry said as he stood with his wife, Anita and their son, Griffin, and daughter Sydney.
Perry is expected to garner the most support in socially conservative states like South Carolina and Iowa, but his job-creation story is already catching the attention of Granite State voters.
“We have too many people who are out of work. We need someone who has a track record of creating jobs,” said N.H. state Rep. Jon Richardson (R-Allenstown), who is still deciding between Perry and Romney.
Romney, who has worked hard to appear above the GOP primary fray, showed he’s taking Perry’s challenge seriously Friday night in Manchester, N.H., when he contrasted his own experience creating jobs as a venture capitalist versus Perry’s 27 years as an elected official in the public sector. “Herman Cain and I are the guys who have experience in the private sector. That’s what distinguishes me from some of the other candidates.
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