Rick Perry enters 2012 Republican race

Texas governor says he will work to make Washington as ‘inconsequential’ to people’s lives as possible if elected Texas governor Rick Perry entered the Republican presidential race on Saturday, jolting the crowded field seeking to unseat Barack Obama. Perry told voters in a conference call from Columbia, South Carolina, that he wants to take on Obama and said that “I full well believe I’m going to win.” About an hour later, he outlined his principles in a speech at a conservative conference in Charleston, South Carolina, declaring that if elected president, he would work to make Washington as “inconsequential” to Americans’ lives as possible. He accused Obama of providing “rudderless” leadership at home and abroad, and declared that he wants to cut taxes and free businesses from the shackles of regulation to spark an economic recovery. Perry spoke only a few hours before the release of results from a straw poll in Iowa, the state which holds the first nominating contest next year. In Iowa, thousands of Republicans mingled with presidential hopefuls on a college campus in Ames where they began voting in the first test to see how the candidates are faring with the party’s base. The poll results are nonbinding, but the outcome will probably provide a road map for the Iowa campaign heading into the caucuses that are scheduled for early February. Mitt Romney leads national polls and many states’ surveys for the chance to challenge Obama, who is considered vulnerable in next year’s election because of lingering high unemployment and the sputtering economic recovery. But there is no shortage of rivals looking to emerge as the top alternative to Romney, who lost the nomination in 2008 to John McCain. Even before he officially entered the race, polls of Republican voters showed Perry running only a few percentage points behind Romney, who has been emphasising his business background to persuade voters he can turn the economy around. But many conservatives have not embraced him because of his past support as Massachusetts governor for abortion and gay rights and a health care reform package used by Obama as a model for legislation that Republicans loathe. Evangelical Christians, a key part of the Republican base, also look askance at Romney’s Mormon faith. Through three terms as Texas governor, Perry has overseen significant job growth in his state while working to keep taxes low. He was an early backer of the small government, anti-tax Tea Party movement. He enjoys the support of social conservatives because of his opposition to abortion and gay rights. He is also an evangelical Christian who organised a well-attended prayer rally in Houston last week. Rick Perry Republicans US politics United States guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 13, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.