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Subscribe to RSSCHARLESTON, S.C. -- Whatever you call it -- a "shake-up," a "game change," a "political earthquake," or "a new face on the scene" -- it's happening. Gov. Rick Perry is officially in the presidential race.
Speaking to a crowded hotel ballroom of conservative bloggers and more than 100 members of the media in South Carolina, the Texas governor unveiled a new tagline of his presidential contest: "It is time to get America working again."
'That's why, with the support of my family and unwavering belief in the goodness of America, I declare to you today as a candidate for president of the United States," he said.
Perry's remarks focused squarely on America's economic situation, and he held the Obama administration flatly responsible for sluggish job growth and the recent downgrade of the country's credit rating by Standard and Poor's.
"One in six work-eligible Americans cannot find a full-time job," Perry said. "That is not a recovery -- that is an economic disaster."
Highlighting his background as the son of tenant farmers who grew up in a tiny Texas town wearing clothes hand-sewn by his mother, Perry -- with a characteristic Texas twang -- said that Washington lawmakers are detached from the everyday lives of American citizens.
"I promise you this," he said to rousing cheers. "I'll work every day to try to make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in your life as I can."
The Texas governor's entry is all but certain to jolt the base voters of other candidates in the GOP field and ensure dramatic competition in early contest states Iowa and South Carolina. His pitch to the evangelical Christian community, on full display last weekend at his 30,000-strong day of prayer and fasting in Houston, could pull support from Iowa front-runner Rep. Michele Bachmann. And his record of job creation in Texas, which will serve as a key selling point for his national campaign, will be measured against the tenure of other former statewide officials in the race like perceived front-runner and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Texas Governor Rick Perry announces his presidential candidacy while speaking to a crowd of supporters in Charleston, S.C., on Saturday.
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The LOW WAGE PRESIDENT just what the doctor ordered!! I have been saying this for two years now. The republican party wants you to work for the same wage as a person from a third world country. As soon as they get rid of all the things that make it possible for people not to take those jobs. Unemployment, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, UNIONS!! Fair paying Government jobs ect... Exceptional my ass!!
We certainly need to get Obama out of the White House. He is working to destroy the USA as we know and have known it. Who will vote for Obama - Socialists, Communists, Muslims, Liberals, Left Wingers, the uneducated, those that are ignorant of what is happening, followers, ............which group are you in.
Who will vote against him and for another - conservatives, independents, Americans, Religious, educated, .....which group are you in.
Speaking with many of my friends - Although some will vote for him because he is 1/2 African, The true African-Americans (not American born and raised) and a large percentage of the American Blacks are beginning to turn. Do not vote for skin color, nationality, or where you reside, vote for the best person for America......Obama is not that person. We were all fooled by the media.
Meh, I was really hoping a reasonably intelligent centrist republican candidate would be unearthed for 2012. Rick Perry ain't it. Despite the news anchor hair and the tailored suit, he fails to even remotely impress.
While he is quick to take credit for very recent job creation statistics in his home state, someone else was equally quick to peel back the onion a bit to reveal that the jobs were primarily in the government sector followed by minimum wage service industry jobs. As a hard core right wing candidate fundamentally opposed to the expansion of government, this is a bit ironic, no? Perry, like the rest of the politician scum seems to have no problem compromising his ethics in exchange for few votes.
And as for those service sector jobs, they weren't in medicine, insurance, or accounting. They were Holiday Inn, and McDonalds. I don't think this country's economic recovery can be built on such "job growth".
No, Perry appears to be yet another buffoon in the pantheon of idiots rolled out by the republicans every four years lately. Big mouth, big ego, small brain, smaller accomplishments.
Too bad they couldn't combine McCain's people skills with Perry's looks and Newt's brain. That might be electable.
GO PERRY GO !!!! it's time for the CHANGE !!!! and long overdue to REMOVE Obama !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do we really want another President who is pro big oil, military industrial complex and pro Israel with no or little regard for the environment? This clown talks the talk but can't walk the walk.
Perry = candidate of scared, ignorant, racist, white people