Gov. Rick Perry will be in Denton this week, according to his office, at which time he certainly will not address if and when he's going to announce whether he's running for the White House. And so, the day after the governor met with former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in Austin, it's left to Politico to ask: What in the hell is taking him so long? Because he and his people are certainly talking to all the right people about jumping in the race. But there's also no deadline -- except, maybe, Labor Day at the latest, says his chief strategist, Dave Carney. Maybe.
Maybe Perry's waiting to see if there's enough money out there. Or maybe that doesn't matter. Or maybe he's waiting to see if he'll get the support of folks like Haley Barbour and Rudy Giuliani. Or maybe that doesn't matter. Or perhaps he's waiting for a sign from above. Or maybe he's worried he waited too long.
Perry doesn't have a Mitch Daniels problem. The Texan's wife, Anita, is enthusiastic about a run, according to multiple sources. If he were to opt out it would be more for reasons along the lines of why Barbour decided not to pull the trigger -- a lack of total commitment and more practical concern about whether it's feasible at this relatively late stage in the process.Read the whole thing here.
"Is there the time available and is real money still available?" asked Carney, explaining their assessment. "It's not very wise to just say, 'Hey, lemme get in the race' and just jump and not have an idea if there is the political support, the financial support. It's a matter of trying to make a prudent decision."
