Perry sees Iowa to blame in 5th place finish

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - Just hours after announcing via Twitter that he would be continuing his presidential bid in South Carolina, Texas Gov. Rick Perry laid some blame for his fifth-place finish in Iowa on the state's caucus process.

"This is a quirky place, a quirky process to say the least and we're going to go into places where they have actual primaries and there are going to be real Republicans voting," he said. "Not that there aren't real Republicans here in Iowa but 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."

The governor announced that he would be returning to Austin Tuesday night to reevaluate his campaign after getting only 10 percent in the Iowa contest. But barely 12 hours later, he arrived at a final decision while on a run through Raccoon Creek Park. "And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State...Here we come South Carolina!!!," he tweeted, alerting people to the decision.

The choice to keep fighting in the race, which he said involved discussions with advisers Joe Allbaugh and Ray Sullivan, the communications director, was not a hard one, he said.

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Though Perry declined to elaborate exactly what that path forward is he did say it state of South Carolina which is rich in both evangelical voters and veterans, two key groups for Perry. He said he felt "comfortable" with the state, its people and their values.

Perry also made it clear he will continue to portray himself as the outsider in the race.

"I'm gonna delineate and characterize the differences in the candidates and there are huge differences," Perry said. "These guys are all insiders that have spent years and years in Washington, D.C. They're the reason that this country is broken is because the earmarks, the spending habits that's been built up in Washington D.C. and they need an outsider and I think Americans are looking for that alternative and that choice and I'm it."

Perry, who is often reticent to talk to reporters, seemed happy to chat with them Wednesday morning. His wife, Anita, walked out minutes before him, greeting the press cheerfully and noting, "I love grits" - a nod to the campaign's next stop.

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