Perry Not Abandoning Presidential Campaign
Updated 4:15 p.m.
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP/CBSDFW.COM) - A determined Rick Perry said on Wednesday that he will not abandon his presidential campaign, despite a fifth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. The Texas governor wrote on his Twitter account, "And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State... Here we come South Carolina!!!"
Perry, an avid runner, attached a photo of himself jogging near a lake, wearing Texas A&M running shorts and showing a thumbs-up.
CBS 11 News contacted Perry's campaign for a comment on the tweet, and officials initially seemed surprised to hear about Perry's statement. After trying to determine if Perry's Twitter account had been hacked, campaign officials later confirmed to CNN that the bid was indeed continuing.
After winning 10 percent of the vote in Iowa on Tuesday, Perry said that he would return to Texas "to determine whether there is a path forward" for his White House bid.
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After entering the race in August to great fanfare, Perry nosedived, plagued by missteps most notably in debates. He had planned to make South Carolina his final stand, but put events in that state on hold Wednesday while he headed back to the Texas capital.
Perry's national political director told campaign workers early Wednesday that the governor was reviewing his organizational and financial resources, and assessing the political landscape in South Carolina and beyond. South Carolina's primary is January 21. The next contest in the race for the GOP nomination is January 10 in New Hampshire.
Perry will travel to New Hampshire for a debate this weekend, but will not campaign there for next week's primary because he is polling at just two or three percent in that state. That's why the governor announced South Carolina as his next campaign stop.
The photo of Perry, after what appears to have been a jog in cold weather, was decidedly defiant compared to the emotional speech he gave in Iowa. In his remarks, Perry told supporters that he appreciated their work but needed to consider whether there was a viable strategy for him to restart his campaign in South Carolina. "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 said, his family standing behind him.
Jason Klindt, a Perry volunteer from Kansas City, Miss. believes the governor still has a good chance in South Carolina.
"I think the south is going to be friendly to him," Klindt said. "The field will narrow more. If he has the money, infrastructure and the desire, he should continue on."
Before Perry spoke, his advisers tried to paint the first contest in the South as the real start to his strategy, and braced for a lackluster performance in the Iowa caucuses, which typically winnows the field of presidential hopefuls.
Historically, the Iowa caucuses often surprise the political establishment, candidates and conventional wisdom. But perhaps the surprise this year in the polls leading up to Tuesday's caucuses was accurate.
Even though the governor spent $3 million on TV and radio ads, many Iowa voters told CBS 11's Jack Fink that they couldn't get past the governor's poor debate performances, especially that "Oops" moment, which the governor muttered after forgetting the third government agency he would shut down.
"I'm not sure he's ready for the national spotlight yet based on what I've seen from the debates," West Des Moines resident Brian Glass said. "I like his values and the things he has to say, but I think this election is too important to take a risk like that."
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
