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Perry to End Bid for Presidency By JEFF ZELENY 9:51 a.m. | Updated CHARLESTON, S.C. — Gov. Rick Perry of Texas will end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday and endorse Newt Gingrich, two campaign officials confirmed, a decision that could influence the South Carolina primary on Saturday

In a campaign speech late Tuesday night, Governor Rick Perry stated that he is "returning to Texas" to reassess whether he is going to continue running for President. The speech contained several emotional moments, in particular two moments. The first was when he read a letter from an adoring supporter who called him a "great man." The letter described a conversation that Mr. Perry had had with a soldier and how his supporter looked on in awe as he watched Governor Perry call the veteran his "Christian brother." The second was when Perry announced that he would be returning to...

Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, appears doomed to a fifth-place finish in Iowa. Unless he drops out, that would make South Carolina his last stand against Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney. The problem is that he might not receive an invitation to an upcoming South Carolina debate (given the debate criteria). Candidates can qualify to participate in the CNN/Southern Republican Leadership Conference debate January 19th (two days before the South Carolina primary) in one of four ways. First and second, they can place in the top four in either Iowa or New Hampshire. Third and fourth, they can qualify by averaging seven...

BETTENDORF, Iowa — Gov. Rick Perry is proposing to bring a little Texas to Washington — with a “part-time citizen Congress” that doesn’t meet so often, and whose members earn only half of what they make now. The Republican presidential hopeful will also call for an end to lifetime appointments for federal judges, including members of the U.S. Supreme Court. And, as he proposed in his famous debate-night flub last week, Perry will vow to shut down three agencies of government. This time he will remember all three: the U.S. Departments of Education, Commerce and Energy. “Washington doesn’t need a...

The five reasons I asserted that Governor Perry would have the best shot at beating Obama were simple ones: He decisively created more jobs than Obama. He greatly respects and tries to encourage small businesses. He has a clear understanding of federalism and what states shouldn't be forced into. He has solid core convictions that replicate most of America. And he could unite the core conservative Democrats, Republicans and Independents across the nation on economic, social and defense policy. All five of those reasons remain -- even now -- solidly relevant and valid. However, he's certainly nowhere near where I...

By facing the issue and joking about it, Perry frames his gaffe as a funny moment rather than a serious, and seriously stupid, one. He takes control of the discussion. Every minute he's on the air being interviewed about it is one more minute his moment isn't being replayed, one more minute some panel of pundits isn't fretfully analyzing its stupendous terribleness. By allowing his memory glitch to be the topic of discussion and owning up to it, he helps exhaust the subject. Most of all, Perry is being humanized, albeit not in the way any politician would wish. For...

After debate flub, Perry recalls Britney Spears song ‘Oops!…I Did It Again’ Caroline May November 10, 2011 ....On Laura Ingraham’s radio show Thursday, Perry sheepishly recalled the incident explaining it was a “brain freeze” that felt hours long. “A brain freeze for 54 seconds, it seemed like 54 hours. Listen, I stepped in it and I’m still wiping it off my boots,” he said. “You know I think a bunch of Americans would be pretty happy to forget big chunks of the federal government.” Perry said that it is always good to laugh at your flubs and with that in...

he Perry campaign wants to reboot, having retooled and refined its message and tried hard to get back on the jobs message. Okay, fine, but first the Perry camp needs to answer a basic question — why should supporters who went all in for him and wound up feeling burned give him a second shot? I asked him about that and it was, perhaps, a good sign that he stayed on the jobs message. The jobs message, though, raises a question about his flat tax — won't it just help the rich? Also, what about President Obama's approach and his...

WASHINGTON – Rick Perry, after calling Mitt Romney a “fat cat,” today also called on the former Massachusetts governor to release his income tax returns, an indication that Perry will increasingly make an issue of Romney’s wealth in the Republican presidential primary. The strong charges from Perry are striking coming from a candidate who himself two months ago accused President Obama of “trying to engage in class warfare and shooting high-powered bullets at people who have corporate jets.” Now, as Perry tries to gain an edge on Romney – by far the wealthiest candidate in the race – the Texas...

Michele Bachmann's New Hampshire campaign staff is definitely gone, even though Bachmann said she didn't know about it. The news that all five of Bachmann's paid staffers in New Hampshire had quit broke on Friday, but when Radio Iowa approached Bachmann for comment, she said all was well. "That is a shocking story to me," she said. "I don't know where that came from. We have called staff in New Hampshire to find out where that came from and the staff have said that isn't true, so I don't know if this is just a bad story that's being fed...

Cain 37% Romney 27% Ron Paul 12% Perry 6% 86% say they're somewhat or very satisfied with the current GOP field. Univ of Iowa Poll Press Release 102111

Texas governor meeting Friday with Washington insiders after big fundraising dropoff. By Reid Wilson and Peter Bell Texas Gov. Rick Perry kicked off his presidential campaign with an aggressive fundraising schedule that quickly made him a front-runner for the Republican nomination. But reports his campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission show that his ability to attract big money fell off steeply in September—perhaps not coincidentally—at the same time a series of rocky debate performances threatened his early front-runner status. As Perry arrives on Friday in Washington for a private meeting with K Street insiders, the question is whether he...

Thursday, October 20, 2011 Reflecting national trends, businessman Herman Cain has now jumped to the front of the Republican pack in Iowa. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Iowa caucus-goers shows that Cain is in front with 28% followed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at 21%. Congressman Ron Paul is a distant third at 10% followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 9%, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann at 8%, and Texas Governor Rick Perry at 7%. The sixth place finish for Perry is a sharp decline from early September when Perry was the frontrunner both nationally and...

David Axlerod took a swing at Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain Monday, saying that he thought Cain’s 9-9-9 proposal would hurt the poor and the middle class. The senior Obama adviser called Cain an “intruiging personality” on “Morning Joe,” but took a shot at the Republican candidate’s tax proposal, saying, “I think his plan deserves scrunity … I don’t think it’s good for most Americans.” “I think you’ve got to add the 9-9-9 up, get to 27 percent, and that’s probably what poor and middle-class people will end up paying once the thing is implemented,” Axlerod said. Despite the attention...

Las Vegas, Nevada— One day before a CNN Western Republican presidential debate, a new national survey indicates that Mitt Romney and Herman Cain are essentially tied for the lead in the race for the GOP nomination, with Rick Perry dropping to a distant third. .....According to the poll [CNN/ORC International Poll], only one third of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say they will definitely support the candidate they are currently backing, with two thirds saying they may change their minds. "With only 33% of all Republicans saying that their minds are made up, it's far too early...

Obama Approval 43% & 39% Say He Deserves 2nd Term UTICA, NY--Herman Cain is now the runaway leader among Republican presidential primary voters with 45%, more than twice that of second-place Mitt Romney (21%). Rick Perry, who led with 41% in late August, has fallen to 7%, and Michele Bachmann, who led in June and July, now gets just 1%. President Barack Obama's approval rating among all voters is 43%, and the percentage saying he deserves re-election is 39%. These results are from an IBOPE Zogby interactive poll conducted from Oct. 11-14. Cain appears to have won support of voters...

Art Laffer (the originator of the Laffer Curve, and inspiration of Reagonomics) breaks down Herman Cain's plan

Do you know why candidates for office tend to be reluctant to propose detailed plans? Because they know the plans will be flyspecked and picked apart by just about everyone. Inviting criticism doesn't help you to get votes. But fear of criticism prevents you from conceiving solutions to problems. So even if avoidance of criticism helps in propelling you to an election victory, how are you supposed to effectively govern? How are you supposed to fix the problems you told everyone you were going to fix? That's why I'm happy to see so much criticism of the 9-9-9 plan I've...

Texas governor wins standing ovation at Washington conference with forceful pitches on jobs and America's place in the world. Texas governor Rick Perry won several standing ovations at a conservative conference in Washington on Friday that marked the start of a fightback in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Perry needed a good reaction after seeing his poll ratings drop sharply after poor debate performances last month. He and the other Republican presidential candidates are speaking at the annual conference of the Family Research Council, which promotes traditional marriage. A straw poll of the candidates is being conducted, with...

Depending on how you slice the numbers, Herman Cain may now be leading, or tied for the lead, in polls of Republican primary voters.