A VERY PERRY SUNDAY – AT 10:20 A.M. ET:  Governor Rick Perry of Texas is giving every indication that he'll soon jump into the GOP presidential race.  As governor of Texas, the nation's second most populous state, and the nation's longest serving governor, he becomes an instant heavyweight.  From The Politico:

In one of the hardest indications yet that he's a likely candidate, Rick Perry gave an interview to the politically important Des Moines Register last week, in which he said he is beginning to feel a "call" to run for president:

“I’m not ready to tell you that I’m ready to announce that I’m in,” Gov. Rick Perry told The Des Moines Register. “But I’m getting more and more comfortable every day that this is what I’ve been called to do. This is what America needs.”

Another big-name potential Republican presidential candidate who is still on the sidelines, Sarah Palin, told Fox News in May that she has “that fire in the belly” to run. It remains a question whether Perry does.

“I’ll be real honest with you, I don’t wake up in the morning – never did and still don’t today – and say, ‘Gee, I want to be president of the United States,’ ” Perry, 51, said by phone last week.

But his wife, Anita, and hundreds of people nationwide say they want him to run, he said. He said he would likely decide in two or three weeks.

Looks like the guy is in.  I mean, when they start talking about feeling a call, you can expect the announcement soon.  After all, what is going to say a couple of weeks down the line, "Uh, they stopped calling"?  Have you ever heard of anyone, in all history, who's said he's heard the call, but that it went away?

Reader Chris Corbett, at the new edition of our Angel's Corner, muses about a Perry-Rubio ticket, the Rubio being terrific Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.  That is a winning combination.

I've also heard buzz about a Perry-Bachmann ticket.  Well, maybe, but I don't think so.  No matter how you feel about Michele Bachman – and she can be magnetic – the Sarah Palin experience will weigh heavily.  Bachmann has a history as a loose cannon, which is exactly what a presidential candidate doesn't want in a running mate.  Of course, if she proves herself a spectacular competitor in the presidential race, and demonstrates fierce discipline, that factor can fall away.

July 17, 2011