LEXINGTON, SC -- Despite an onslaught of criticism from conservative commentators who have rushed to Mitt Romney's defense, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is not backing down on his attacks on Bain Capital's "get-rich-quick" schemes.

"The idea that you come in and destroy people's lives, the idea that you come in just to make a quick profit tear these companies apart," Perry told an audience of about 50 at Lizard's Thicket restaurant outside Columbia. "I understand restructuring, I understand these kind of things. But the idea that we can't criticize someone with these get-rich-quick schemes is not appropriate in my perspective."

Commentators from Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity have ripped into Perry and Newt Gingrich for their slams of Bain Capital's restructuring plans, calling the attacks "anti-capitalist" and comparing them to the language of Occupy Wall Street.

But Perry repeated his newly-minted phrase "vulture capitalism" three times at his first event of five campaign events today -- the day after Romney thundered to victory in the New Hampshire primary.

The Texas governor, who did not even muster 1% of the vote in last night's Granite State contest, tweaked the early nominating races in his appeal to South Carolinians.

"Who's South Carolina going to put forward? Iowa is a fine state. New Hampshire is an, uh, interesting place," he said to giggles from the crowd.

"But the fact of the matter is they winnow the field down. South Carolina is who picks presidents."

LEESVILLE, S.C. -- The rest of the political world's eyes are trained tonight on New Hampshire's exit polls, but Rick Perry has one other pressing matter on his mind.

"I'm fixing to get some gizzards!" he declared to a group of giggling elderly women chowing down at Shealy's Bar-B-Que on Tuesday night.

The Texas governor spent the Granite State primary night just shy of 1,000 miles away from the journalistic bonanza in Manchester, instead weaving his way between the long tables of a  the cafeteria-style diner here, insisting on shaking the hands of every patron.

"You study!" he instructed a young girl.

"How's the catfish?" he inquired of another diner.

Perry, who dropped his efforts in New Hampshire after plummeting to the bottom of the polls in the state, hopes to revive his campaign in South Carolina with a swing heavy on his famed retail-politicking skills and a populist pitch aimed squarely at frontrunner Mitt Romney.

"Venture capitalism's a good thing. Comes in, gives that gap funding to help these companies get up and get started creating jobs and work," he told South Carolinians at a town hall here. "But Mitt Romney and Bain Capital were involved in what I call vulture capitalism."

The governor will conduct several media interviews tonight, but it's fair to say that following the New Hampshire results won't be the highlight of his evening.

It will be those gizzards. He got them to go.

UPDATED 3:30 PM ET

FORT MILL, S.C. -- In his most searing criticism to date of the Republican frontrunner, Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday described companies like Gov. Mitt Romney's former firm Bain Capital as a "vultures" that eat the "carcasses" of struggling businesses.

"They’re vultures sitting out there on the tree limb waiting for the company to get sick," Perry said of private equity firms during remarks to an assisted living community in northeastern South Carolina. "And then they swoop in, they eat the carcass, they leave with that and they leave the skeleton.”

The attacks on Romney and Bain have been ratcheted up, as candidates fight for political survival in this Republican nomination fight that could soon be effectively over if Romney pulls off a significant New Hampshire win and then follows it up with one in South Carolina.

In language that could perhaps fall on sympathetic ears of Occupy Wall Street protestors, Perry derided Bain for its involvement in the restructuring of two South Carolina companies that he claims resulted in heavy job losses in the region.

"Mitt Romney was the head of Bain Capital when that was happening," he said. "And it’s that mentality of making money against all other considerations."

Perry later confirmed to reporters that the "vulture" metaphor specifically referred to Bain Capital, adding that such firms stretch the limit of free market principles.

"We have allowed these greedy people on Wall Street to take advantage of small companies that may be going through some tough times," he said at a press conference Tuesday. "And instead of trying to work with them to find a way to keep the jobs and get them back on their feet it's all about how much money can we make, how quick can we make it and then get out of town and find the next carcass to feed upon."

The Texas governor, who has struck populist tones throughout his presidential run, said that Romney's history at Bain will be examined by voters in the days after today's New Hampshire primary, where Romney is expected to win by a wide margin.

"When you look at all the jobs that they destroyed by this going in and restructuring these companies, taking their big management fees and then the people whose jobs have been pitched over the side, I think that's an assessment that hasn't been done yet," he said. "And I think it's going to happen over the course of the next week."

On Tuesday, Perry also accused the current administration of mutual back-scratching with big business interests, noting that the White House's last three chiefs of staff have been tied to Wall Street firms.

"You don't think there's a little bit of inside dealing going on there? That their buddies on Wall Street aren't calling em up and saying 'hey how about let's not be quite that tough on those of us on Wall Street," he said. "We're just good old boys out here trying to make a buck'?"

So far, Perry's critiques of rivals have failed to gain traction; millions of dollars spent on Iowa ads labeling them "insiders" earned him only a fifth-place finish in the January 3rd caucuses. His campaign hopes that a state that prides itself on "picking presidents" and defying conventional wisdom will give Perry a desperately-needed boost.

Perry would not answer questions Tuesday about what anything other than a win here in South Carolina would mean for the future of his campaign. "Our intention is to win. And I can't tell you anything other than that," he said.

But, defying the obvious Texas historical metaphor for a man making his last stand in the face of almost certain defeat, Perry said that his last-ditch campaign swing in South Carolina is less like the famed slaughter of revolutionaries in 1836 and more like the triumphant final battle that ultimately won the region its independence from Mexico.

"This isn't our Alamo," he told the audience in Fort Mill. "It's our San Jacinto."

NBC's Ali Weinberg contributed to this report.

ANDERSON, SC -- Accusing front-runner Mitt Romney of causing painful layoffs in South Carolina during his leadership at a Boston private equity firm, Texas Gov. Rick Perry mocked the former Bain Capital CEO for claiming yesterday that he once feared losing his job.
  
"I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips, whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out -- because his company Bain Capital and all the jobs that they killed," Perry said. "I'm sure he was worried that he would run out of pink slips." 

The Texas governor was referring to a comment Romney made in New Hampshire yesterday, when he said, "There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.” But as the New York Times notes, his campaign could not cite specific examples of Romney almost getting a pink slip, although a spokesman said that “as a young person just out of college, [Romney] worked his way up the career ladder knowing that his continued employment was by no means guaranteed.” 
 
Perry -- who named a steel manufacturer in Georgetown, SC, and a photo album company in Gaffney that he says gutted jobs as a result of Bain's actions -- said that residents of those communities would be stunned by the remarks of "the son of a multi-millionaire." 
 
"There's something inherently wrong when getting rich off failure and sticking it to someone else is how you do your business. I happen to think that is indefensible," he told the breakfast crowd of about 75 at Mama Penn's restaurant here in Anderson. "If you're a victim of Bain Capital's downsizing, it's the ultimate insult for Mitt Romney to come to South Carolina and tell you he feels your pain. Because he caused it." 
 
The Texas governor continued to blast his rivals as a whole for being "insiders" chained to the DC status quo, although he did offer some complimentary words for Texas colleague Ron Paul when he asked if the famously anti-Fed congressman would make a good Federal Reserve chair. 
 
"Congressman Paul would be an ideal person to head up the Fed and put a little fear in their heart," he replied after chuckling that Paul would "probably scare all of those people to death." 
  
Perry, who hopes to score momentum from evangelicals in the Palmetto State, spoke at length about his faith, and joked that his identity as a Christian is fitting given his rocky moments as a candidate.
 
"God gives us what we can't give ourselves, and that's the gift of redemption," he said. "If you watch my debate performances, it's good to get a little bit of redemption every now and then. Get a second chance."

*** UPDATE *** Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul responds, "It is no surprise that, having spent nearly half a century in government between them, Speaker Gingrich and Gov. Perry have resorted to desperate attacks on a subject they don’t understand. We expect attacks on free enterprise from President Obama and his allies on the left – not from so-called ‘fiscal conservatives.’"

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Defying expectations that he would quietly drop out of the presidential race in the coming days, Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced in a tweet Wednesday morning that he will continue to campaign in South Carolina despite a disappointing fifth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. 

"This wasn't a hard decision," Perry told reporters after his 140-character announcement of the continuation of the campaign "marathon" -- which included a photo of himself in running gear -- stunned even some staff who scrambled to confirm his intentions. 

The governor told reporters that he made the decision to push forward during a morning jog in West Des Moines. "I was out on the trail when it kind of came to me." 

Perry offered some harsh words for the caucus state that handed him last night's defeat, saying he was looking forward to participating in "actual primaries" with "real Republicans."

"This is a quirky place,  a quirky process to say the least," he said of the Iowa caucus system. "And we’re going to go into places where they have actual primaries and there are going to be real Republicans voting."

"The fact it is was a pretty loosey-goosey process, and you had a ton of people who were there that admitted they were Democrats voting in the caucuses last night," he added. 

However, South Carolina has an open primary, meaning that political independents and Democrats can participate in that process, too. 

Perry told supporters in a speech that seemed just shy of a concession last night that he would "reassess" the future of his campaign in Austin. He is traveling as planned to his home state Wednesday but will participate in two debates in New Hampshire this weekend before pushing on to South Carolina. 

The campaign has been torn by spats -- some aired on the pages of national news outlets -- between the Texas-based loyalists on his staff and outside consultants who joined the campaign in the fall. Perry mentioned only two senior aides by name -- relative newcomer Joe Allbaugh and longtime Texas ally and communications director Ray Sullivan -- when asked whom he consulted about his decision to stay in the race. 

Perry declined to say whether or not there would be any staff changes after the Iowa defeat 

"I don’t have any idea," Perry said. "That’s not my area of expertise. I leave that to Joe Allbaugh.”

This story was updated at 1:25a.m. ET

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Texan is going home. 

 After a disappointing fifth place finish in the Iowa caucuses Tuesday night, Gov. Rick Perry announced that he will return to his home state to assess the future of a campaign that remained stalled for months despite prolific ad spending and a frenzied eleventh hour bus tour in the Hawkeye State. 

 "With the voters' decision tonight in Iowa, I decided to return to Texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race," Perry told several hundred supporters gathered in the West Des Moines hotel that served as the team's nerve center this week. 

Perry briefly choked up when reading aloud a letter from a supporter who drove from Texas to Iowa to support him.

Unlike his final Iowa campaign events - when he surrounded himself with loyal endorsers - Perry was joined only by his immediate family on stage as he thanked his supporters. 

"You've made every minute of this worth it for ourselves," he told backers. "And with a little prayer and reflection, I'm going to determine the best path forward, but I want to tell you there has been no greater joy in my life than being able to share with the people of Iowa that there is a model to take this country forward and it is in the great state of Texas."

Aides said that Perry discussed the decision with family, senior aide Joe Allbaugh and communications director Ray Sullivan in his hotel suite after the fifth place finish was projected. Perry himself pushed to make the announcement of his return to Texas on stage rather than through a paper statement. 

The next step for Perry will be a powwow with family and advisors as well as a data dive by aides into Perry's performance in the Iowa contest. 

"It's going to come down to a calculus of what the Iowa results really said beyond the first snapshot, what resources we have available financially and otherwise and how we read South Carolina and the potential there," communications director Ray Sullivan told reporters.  

In the waning days of the Iowa race, the campaign hoped that its ground game would propel the candidate to a surprise third place finish or a close fourth place showing. But public polls and internal surveys saw a stubborn lack of momentum despite more than 50 public appearances for the candidate since Dec 14. 

In addition to the weak debate performances and embarrassing gaffes that haunted his campaign, the campaign was also plagued by infighting between its old guard Texas loyalists and more recently added political consultants. 

A public announcement of Perry's next step will come no earlier than Thursday, Sullivan said. 

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- With a sense of history on the biggest political day -- to date -- of the 2012 cycle, Texas Gov. Rick Perry today compared the GOP's quest to defeat President Barack Obama to one of the deadliest battles of the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944.

"This election is about stopping a president of the United States and his administration that is abusing the Constitution of this country, that is putting America on a track to bankruptcy," Perry told a hotel ballroom packed with more than 200 volunteers. 

"It is a powerful moment in Americans' history, and you are on the front lines," he added. "This is Concord. This is Omaha Beach. This is going up the hill realizing that the battle is worth winning."

Those supporters, who represent 32 states, descended on the Perry team's nerve center at the West Des Moines Sheraton after the Christmas holiday. About 500 of them will fan out to caucus sites today across the state to advocate for the Texas governor.

Introducing her husband, an emotional Anita Perry thanked supporters for their loyalty in a campaign most recently scarred by a Politico article rife with quotes from anonymous staff members who savaged their colleagues for the team's early disorganization.

While Perry has gained few endorsements since his famously devastating debate performance in Michigan back in November, several of his early backers have made the journey to frigid Iowa for the governor's final push.

South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal are among the allies on hand.

And they remain loyal -- and on  message.

"I will leave it to the pundits to look at polls and campaign staff," Jindal told NBC News. "To be honest with you, I didn't endorse Rick because of the polls. I didn't endorse Rick because of his campaign organization. I endorsed him because of his executive experience and his fiscal conservatism."

PERRY, Iowa -- In the town bearing his name, Governor Rick Perry finally seemed at home.

The Texas governor, now facing the prospect of failing to crack the top tier in a state once predicted to hand him a cakewalk victory, offered perhaps the most fluid and passionate performance of his 42 city bus tour during its final stop.

Perry, who throughout the final weeks of his Iowa campaign has frequently consulted notes during remarks and offered lengthy and tangent-laden answers to questioners, spoke concisely and emotionally  Monday night about the dangers of big government and the importance of nominating a GOP candidate who shares social conservatives' "values."

"Why would you settle for anything but an authentic conservative who shares your views and values and will go to Washington DC and not apologize one moment for them?" he asked.

About 200 supporters packed into a ballroom of the Pattee Hotel, offering choruses of "yeah!" and "damn straight" as Perry delivered a punchier version of his typical stump speech.

But his remarks were stripped of their recent direct hits on top rival Rick Santorum, attacks he has delivered over the past week with heavy reliance on rehearsed lines and written notes.

Slideshow: Rick Perry

Joined on stage by his family and top surrogates  - and introduced by early backers Governors Bobby Jindal and Sam Brownback - Perry won sustained applause from the crowd for his praise of two veterans - Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell and former Marine Capt. Dan Moran.

"That's part of what this is all about," he said, appearing briefly to fight tears. "It's about those young men and women. It's about supporting them when they come home."

Perry now approaches a caucus night that will weigh his campaign's organizational muscle against the gaffes, internal sniping, and sluggish response to missteps that have plagued his run.

DES MOINES, IA -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry is reminding Iowa voters that Rick Santorum lost his last statewide contest by an embarrassing double-digit margin, as well as arguing that the former Pennsylvania senator lacks the national organization to win the GOP primary in 2012.

"His ... argument is 'I'm the guy that can win,'" Perry said of Santorum. "He got beat by 18 [percentage] points his last race. I mean this guy has proven that he can't win races when it matters against a liberal Democrat."

Perry, who himself has never lost an election, told NBC's Chuck Todd in an interview on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" that Santorum would also be hurt by his past endorsement of party-switcher Arlen Specter.

"That's a movement conservative? I don't think so" Perry said.

The Texas governor argues that he is the only candidate who can compete with Mitt Romney and Ron Paul in a long nominating process.

"I'm the only one of the social conservatives and the fiscal conservatives that are running that actually has the ability to raise the money, to have the organization, to run though and finish the primary process," he said. "Santorum and Bachmann don't."

Perry said his resources will make him competitive in Nevada, Florida, and his home state of Texas.

"At the end of the day, we have the national organization and fundraising capabilities to run through this thing," he said. 

Rick Perry hopes his money, organization, and a last-minute push can help him to a surprise showing in Iowa.

A source in the campaign says it has signed up 1,500 precinct leaders in preparation for Tuesday's caucuses and that there are more than 450 Texas-based "strike force" volunteers who are in town for the effort as well. (CNN first reported the numbers of Perry’s precinct leaders and ground game.)

There are 1,774 GOP caucus precincts. The aggressive ground game is one reason that aides on the ground here are optimistic that they may outperform polls because advocates at the vast majority of caucus locations will be working to make the last-minute sale on behalf of the governor.

In the latest NBC-Marist poll, Perry was in fourth place at 14%, but just a point behind the surging Rick Santorum, who does not have as strong an organization - which has struggled in the last couple days. Finishing third could be a coup for Perry and provide momentum heading into South Carolina, another conservative -- and also Southern -- state.

The Perry campaign has set up a makeshift headquarters for those out-of-state volunteers at a West Des Moines hotel.

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to Iowa voters Friday at The Fainting Goat bar and restaurant in Waverly, Iowa.

MASON CITY, IOWA -- Gov. Rick Perry on Friday appeared to endorse making English the official language of the United States, agreeing with a questioner who put forward a strongly worded defense of the idea.

"I don't know how the rest of the conservatives in the room feel," said a questioner at Perry's last event of the day. "Personally, I'm fed up with seeing the directions on every single product on every single shelf of every single store written in foreign languages. And I'd like to say English should be the official language of government in this country."

"That is a statement. That's not a question. And I can agree with that," Perry responded without elaborating further.

A spokesperson for the governor said that while Perry has in the past been open to changing the law to make English the official language, he has typically said he views other economic and social issues as more pressing matters for legislation.

Perry, accompanied by his wife, daughter and son-in-law, spoke to about 50 Republicans at a fundraiser for the Cerro Gordo County GOP in Mason City. Also in attendance was Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, the influential west Iowa conservative whose endorsement has long been sought after by Republican presidential candidates.

King told reporters before the event that he is still not sure whether or not he plans to support a candidate in the race.

"At this point, I just don't know," he said, shrugging.

Asked after his remarks if he'd asked King for his endorsement, Perry joked that the courtship was even more intense than his famously long wooing of his wife Anita.

"I've asked him for his endorsement more times than I asked my wife to get married!" he said.

"I told him I'm going to keep asking," he added.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- He's back for the home stretch. And did he mention he's "an outsider"?

After a four-day break for the Christmas holiday, Gov. Rick Perry pushed his credentials as an enemy of Washington Tuesday at the first of at least 19 Iowa campaign events in the sprint toward the Jan. 3 caucuses.

Speaking to a standing-room-only audience at a cafe in Council Bluffs, Perry's remarks were notably more concise and brief than at events before the holiday hiatus that were characterized by lengthy tangents into energy policy and his efforts to create jobs in Texas.

"Ask yourself," he urged the crowd at the Main Street Cafe, "If we replace a Democratic insider with a Republican insider, you think we're really going to change Washington, D.C.? No way."

The governor, who was running behind schedule for his first event of the day, spoke forcefully while glancing often at prepared remarks during his less-than-10-minute speech. He took no questions from voters.

Without directly naming his rivals, Perry took aim at Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney as "Republican insiders" who would maintain the status quo, and he slammed Ron Paul's foreign policy as one that could result in the destruction of the United States.

"You don't have to settle for Washington and Wall Street insiders who supported the Wall Street bailout and the Obamacare individual mandate," he said. "You don't have to resign yourself to voting for the wasteful Washington spending culture of earmarks and of deficits and this ever-rising debt that we've got. You don't have to vote for a candidate, who would allow Iran to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth and then ultimately America.

"You don't have to stand for that. You don't have to settle for that," he told applauding voters.

Perry is joined Tuesday and Wednesday by controversial Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who endorsed Perry last month and previously campaigned with him in New Hampshire.

Arpaio alluded to recent action taken against him by the Department of Justice, which accused the sheriff of violating the constitutional rights of Latinos in his efforts to curb illegal immigration.

"I had a sneak attack last week by the Obama administration," Arpaio said. "The Justice Department went after me, took away my authority. However we still have state laws, and I know the governor believes in state laws. So we need him in Washington. Please caucus and vote for Gov. Perry on Jan. 3rd."