Announces in Dallas-Ft. Worth and better prepared for 2016 presidential run?
ADDISON Texas (Texas Insider Report) Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry made the widely expected
announcement in Dallas earlier today that
hes in for the 2016 Presidential Race. Now hes hitting the key early-voting primary state of Iowa New Hampshire and South Carolina hard and early and studying up on policy
to be better prepared.
Perry left office in January after a record 14 years as governor. Under him the state generated more than a third of Americas new private-sector jobs since 2001.
While an oil and gas boom fueled much of that economic growth Perry credits lower taxes restrained regulation and limits on civil litigation damages. He also pushed offering economic incentives to lure top employers to Texas and repeatedly visited states with Democratic governors to poach jobs.
Perry was thought to be a cinch for four more years as governor in 2014 but instead turned back to White House ambitions.
Perry launched his presidential campaign four years ago as an instant front-runner a proven job-creator with solid conservative credentials formidable fundraising prowess and perhaps enough cowboy swagger to take Republicans by storm. Then came Perrys Oops moment his response when he failed to name the
three federal departments he wanted to eliminate during a debate and his tumble from powerhouse to punchline.
Perry blamed lingering pain from back surgery in the summer of 2011 for part of the reason he performed poorly in the 2012 campaign.
Since then he has ditched his trademark cowboy boots for more comfortable footwear and wears glasses that give him a serious look.
Perry also travelled extensively overseas and studied policy with experts and economists at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution. He met such business moguls as Warren Buffett and Rupert Murdoch.
As Perry returns to presidential politics the question remains: Will he get another solid chance? Its going to be hard to make a first impression a second time said Ford OConnell a Republican strategist in Washington D.C.
Despite his brain freeze on a Michigan debate stage in November 2011 Perry still has the policy record that made him an early force last time. And recently Perry has travelled to Iowa which kicks off presidential nomination voting more than any Republican White House candidate.
As an underdog Perry has visited out-of-the-way places in Iowa travelling with a single SUV rather than the busloads in his 2012 entourage.
One thing Perry hopes to emulate from 2012 is his fundraising when he amassed $18 million in the first six weeks.
And Perrys camp notes despite an already talented and deep 2016 Republican Primary compared to four years ago many past Republican candidates including Mitt Romney in 2012 rebounded to win the partys presidential nomination after failing in a previous bid.
