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David Goldman / AP
Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry pauses while announcing he is suspending his campaign and endorsing Newt Gingrich, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, in North Charleston, S.C.
Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET
Texas Governor Rick Perry announced Thursday morning that he is dropping out of the presidential race and is endorsing Newt Gingrich for the Republican nomination.
"There is no viable path forward for me," he told supporters on Thursday. "I gave fully of myself for a cause worthy of this country," he added. Perry said it was time for him to make a "strategic retreat."
Spokesman Ray Sullivan told reporters after the announcement that money was a factor; that the campaign had gone through "the bulk of our friends." He added that Perry is not yet ruling out running for re-election as governor or making another play for the White House in four years.
Of Gingrich, Perry said Thursday, "Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?" Perry continued, "There is forgiveness for those who seek God." He applauded Gingrich as "a conservative visionary who can transform our country."
The former House speaker watched Perry's speech from his campaign bus, parked outside of Beaufort, S.C. He said he was "honored and humbled" by the endorsement. He called Perry a "great patriot."
Gingrich's candidacy has been boosted by strong debate performances, with another debate scheduled for Thursday. But he's likely to receive more unflattering attention when ABC News airs an interview with his second wife, Marianne Gingrich. In the interview, Marianne Gingrich says Gingrich asked her for an "open marriage" in which he could have both a wife and a mistress, and she refused.
Story: Gingrich ex-wife says he sought 'open' relationship
Perry's withdrawal and endorsement of Gingrich is a further sign that he's emerging as the main rival to Romney, who has failed to persuade many Republicans of his conservative credentials.
Perry had faced calls to drop out of the race to compel conservative voters, whose support has been divided among several conservative candidates, to rally behind Gingrich in hopes of stopping Romney. Recent polls show Gingrich gaining steam heading into the South Carolina primary, but he still trails Romney by about 10 percentage points.
Texas Governor Rick Perry holds a press conference in North Charleston, S.C., to announce he is dropping his presidential bid and endorsing Newt Gingrich.
Saturday's contest has been seen as the pivotal battle in the race, following what had initially been declared a narrow victory for Romney in Iowa, the first nominating contest, and a solid Romney win in last week's New Hampshire primary. Since 1980, no Republican has won the presidential nomination without a victory in the state.
But Republican officials said Thursday that Rick Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, edged the former Massachusetts governor in Iowa by 34 votes, though no winner was declared because some votes remain missing.
Story: Santorum declares victory after revised Iowa caucus total
Perry entered the race last August to great fanfare and high poll numbers. But his standing quickly fell after a series of campaign blunders. During a nationally televised debate in early November, he could not remember the name of the third Cabinet department he had pledged to eliminate. "Oops," he told the audience. He later admitted of the gaffe, "I stepped in it."
Perry finished fifth in both Iowa and New Hampshire and, at one at one point said he was going to go back to Texas to reassess his path forward, but then headed to South Carolina instead.
Recommended: Rick Perry slideshow
The Texas governor's decision comes after a disappointing campaign and just days before the critical South Carolina primary, NBC News' Carrie Dann reports.
Perry made his announcement to withdraw from the race just hours before Thursday night's GOP debate. He was joined on stage by his wife Anita and son, Griffin, and stressed that the Republican Party "transcends any one individual."
He said that "the campaign has never been about the candidates," and lamented, "a calling never guarantees a particular outcome."
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well I guess if you support newt...than Clinton was your GOD!!! and thats ok by me!!!
Will the Republicans ever give us someone to vote for that is honest, educated and not trying to line their own pockets. Oh yeah, and not a religious zealot.
PLEASE!!!
Huntsman was the one guy I would vote for and he couldn't get any votes.
We get to choose between a religious zealot, a womanizer that impeached a President for being a womanizer who also goes for the easy money, a billionaire that makes sure he gets rich on other peoples backs and doesn't pay taxes and a racist. Pretty much sums it up. I thought the Republicans were the party of the people, but they are just a party of idiots, liars and haters. Hard to believe I once belonged to that party but there seems to be no hope of ever getting anyone with any common sense and decency from the GOP.
They did drop Bachmann and Perry and at least the idiot Palin didn't run, well anything other than her mouth.
They have Eisenhower bound and gagged and hidden in the closet. These are not republicans. They are a song and dance cartoon. Picture singing sheep in wolf skins.
An evangelical christian supporting a lieing hypocritical adulterer. Amazingly hypocritical.
I think they paid Perry to run and split the hardcore, right wing, nutjob vote, so Romney would get the nomination.
Yes, tea partiers, you were usefull for a while, but now you need to sit down and shut up while the real Republicans conduct business as ususal. That's why Glenn Beck got fired, and Dildo Reilly started saying things like, "no, no, he's not really a muslim. I believe he's a citizen" They had to tone it down or they had no chance of winning.
ATTENTION Mr. Perry: While an admirable statement of your faith (if sincere), forgiveness has absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Gingrich's worthiness of being president. I forgive him; millions of Americans forgive him. But like a convicted felon who has lost their right to vote, a person lacking integrity and morality no longer has the right to be president; especially one who is a hypocrite as evidenced by the speech on family values he gave right after he informed his 2nd wife Marriane that he wanted a marriage that allowed him to share his private parts with another woman.
Even worse, some jackass called Rush today and said "BFD, at least he told his wife and asked her for permission." - like that makes it alright??? Is this the new measure of Republican/Conservative morality and integrity??? I think we would all agree that Rush is the last person anyone would want to get advice from on matters of morality and integrity.
The potential problem for America is that far too many on the right are saying BFD because of their hatred and racist feelings toward Pres Obama. And because of that they are willing to accept a morally and integrity flawed person as their candidate; this only proves how desperate they are. And it says more about the louse they're getting ready to promote as their candidate for the #1 job in America. God help us.
Talk to ya'll tomorrow. Good night and GOD BLESS AMERICA.
this could be huge. could push santourum out the race. the race to beat romney is on. doesnt matter anyway. obama will win.
Go, Newt, go. The newest polls show the president leading the Newster by double digits. See http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/president_obama_vs_republican_candidates.html. The Republican rightwingers apparently want to fall on their ideological swords before nominating someone who might actually win a general election.
The sad reality for Mr. Perry is that there was NEVER a viable path forward for him and if there was, he forgot it along with all of the answers he forgot during the debates. Unfortunately for Texas, the only thing that was realized out of Perry's candidacy was the apparent lack of intellect required to hold the Governors office in the Lone Star State, with the prime examples of what's required being "Dubbya" and Perry.... For god's sake, is this what the best and the brightest from Texas look like??? The only possible way for either of these two look competent is to let Sarah Palin speak for them.....
Living in Texas I know what others do not Everything here is run by the part time money bought state house. not the governor
So who do we have left - a Republican field that is still, to varying degrees, made up of flip-floppers, fakes, freaks, and fanatics.
Just curious, what is your discription of obama????
Better than what the Republicans, at this time, have left as a candidate. Give me some names.
soros, van jones, frank marshal davis, ayres, dohrn, piven stern, sunstein, alinski, rev wright, jarrett
that all of obama's scoialt, marxist, communist friends that I can think of at the moment.
Vote obama and his friend's out in November???
Newt has Perry AND Palin AND God backing him now, he can't lose!!!!;-)
Ken thinks anything and everything Obama does is feeble so ticking off a list of things most of us would agree have been progress isn't going to convince him. If he had the same job a woman had and she was making more money he might have some concept of discrimination but since it doesn't affect him he considers efforts to make the workplace fairer as feeble. He doesn't understand that gays have been serving in the military and the new rules don't mean that all of a sudden our serviceman will be placed in jeopardy only that gays no longer have to hide in the shadows as if they are criminals which I think is how Ken would like to treat them. You could list accomplishments like no soldiers on the ground in Libya or our troops finally being pulled out of Iraq or the killing of Bin Laden but you know he would find grounds to call that feeble as well so I guess we might as well just let feeble Ken live in his own little feeble mind.
When Republicans vote maybe they ask God to do it for them, Sorta like working a WEgee board. Forgive me I can't do it guide my hand, I can't take the blame.
Only an idiot would have taken all the troops out of Iraq!!
Don't bother with Bush signed SOFA crap!!!!
Only an idiot would've got us into Iraq in the first place.
You can bash Obama all you want, but it doesn't negate the fact that the GOP field is chock-full of substandard, greedy, corporate-owned hypocrites. The GOP is so desperate they're now willing to endorse any candidate, and the fact they think that America would accept a racist, hypocritical, elitist serial adulterer is good enough to beat Obama is further proof of how far they've fallen.
Perry always make me merry!.....cut congress pay and send them home (wow!)....very, very good idea, at least we would get rid of those Republicans in the House and Senate quickly .........Micheal Bloomberg of New York took $1.00 per year for his salary....wish my boy Perry could show some record in Texas and lead by example....walk the walk & talk the talk......these clowns....By the time it get to Nov. 2012 it should be a landslide for the Democratic Party.....These obstructionist is putting a strangle-hold on poor people, then asking ...are you are hurting?blaming every issue on poor President Obama.....one bit of advise Mr President.....The good times don't last neither the bad .....they both will pass.......Obama/Biden 2012
Gingrich has just become "UNELECTABLE" !!
Since when does the American public choose a creepy, swinging, open marriage type for the U.S. Presidency?
Really ?!! Wow folks,...the GOP has REALLY lowered the bar.
Have we lost all respect for anyything but money ? If the GOP doesn't question his character,...you have to question their character as a whole.
I mean,..SERIOUSLY !! It is an embarassment.
Newt Gingrich,..."Mr Family Values".
Yikes !!!
When Newt becomes the nominee, Repubs will invent all kinds of reasons to justify his past indiscretions.
Well, that's how politics works.
It kept Clinton from being impeached in the Senate after he perjured himself. It kept Obama from being vetted during the '08 campaign. What is a 'community organizer' anyhow?
It will continue happen as long as there are party lines.
Sheep, (and you are)
Really, the community organizer label is so 2008. Lose it, and come up with something relevant.
Communist community organizer??
Is more accurate???
I think so???
Gary, you do not even know what a communist is. So don't make dumb ass statements.
Please God, don't call Rick Perry to run for another term as Governor of Texas. Send him off to dig wells or build bridges or some other truly difficult and meaningful missionary work, with little comfort and no pay. Perhaps he'll grow to understand his own shortcomings and learn to recognize a real calling. Amen.
Houston, would you use a bridge that was built by Rick Perry?
Wanna drive through the big dig tunnel? The sky was falling.
Obama Campaign is saving millions. Let the republican leaches eat each other!!! Another show coming very soon tonight. I want the show to go on for 5 more months.
I don't understand why everyone is so upset.. Isn't this a good thing? look at it this way, you stepped in something, you scrap it off, you go on with life...
I will not vote for Newt. I will not call him an idiot either. He is by far the smartest Repub in the pack. He is many things, including immoral and a hypocrite but he is not an idiot.
And by the way, only an idiot would call Obama an idiot. I cannot say this about all Dems.
Guess that Austin gets it's village idiot back.
Yeah Desertartist...I really do think this the best Texas has to offer the rest of the country.
I think we should stop looking to Texas for any kind of leadership.
So the guy that was as exciting as an Al Gore sound byte is gone.
Now, if we can just get the liberal-turned-conservative-turned-moderate-turned-whatever out of the race, America will be better for it. Come on, Romney. Do what's best for America instead of your ego.
I don't understand!
God was supposed to be on my side...he told me so himself.
Oh, you stupid fool, have you ever seen any proof of a deity in the last 2000 years!!
The fact that he's supporting Gingrich show shows how BITTER he is about the entire campaign and process.
If only he was on the ballot in Virginia....?????
from 55% to just 5%....
from the leader of the pack...to dropping out of the race.
...and it wasnt because of any scandal....it was his debate performance, or lack thereof.
obama is a great speaker yet has been the worst president in history.
...strange days indeed.
It seems that you skipped good old macho cowboy George W. Bush when grading the worst president in history.
Hands down.
How so?
How quickly we forget.
What about GWB?
When on a stage with Tony Blair you really questioned what HE was doing there.
One was articulate and the other one....seemed to be missing a lot of grey matter between the ears.
He couldn't even read from the teleprompter. Could he read?
Couldn't formulate a sentence.
People around the world were laughing at him.
He was completely incompetent.
How could the Americans have been so stupid as to elect GWB, twice?
Because they ARE stupid.