Report: Rick Perry To Enter Race In Late August
Real Clear Politics reports that Rick Perry is on track to enter the Presidential race in about a month:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is all but certain to launch a presidential campaign and is nearing an announcement set for the second half of August, according to sources familiar with his political team’s planning.
For months, Republican activists, donors, elected officials, and even voters have dithered about their choices in the 2012 presidential primary contest. This is especially true of grass-roots conservatives who have clamored for someone else to enter the fray, only to be disappointed by the likes of Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — all of whom declared this year they would not be candidates, in that order.
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Potential donors to Perry’s presidential effort met Tuesday in Austin, and those familiar with what transpired there told RealClearPolitics that key players in Perry’s orbit indicated the 61-year-old Republican will announce a campaign between Aug. 15 and Aug. 31. Perry himself said on Friday that he’ll at least make his intentions known within the next three to four weeks.
In the past month Perry’s team has moved swiftly to put the parts in place for a campaign.
Although Perry always has had a large advance staff because of Texas’ size, several low-level staffers on Capitol Hill who have experience doing advance work have departed conspicuously for the Lone Star State in recent weeks.
While Perry has focused on determining whether he can raise the funds necessary to run a credible campaign, his strategists have begun locking down verbal commitments from vendors and other potential top staff who would fill out a campaign organization. One who was contacted about a senior staff position was told, “This is a 99 percent sure thing.” Another said he was told, “He is 100 percent in.” That wouldn’t seem to leave much margin of error, but a third vendor who was approached said that while Perry’s political circle is lining up a staff, they are doing so without knowing what Perry’s final call will be.
Despite that last part, I doubt we’d be seeing this amount of advance planning if this weren’t a sure thing, or nearly so.
