Free Republic

Rick Perry has started calling Iowa Republicans and a former RNC finance chairman is helping to convene a meeting of national donors later this month in Austin to discuss financing a potential 2012 campaign — signs that the Texas governor and his allies are stepping up their exploratory efforts. The developments come as Perry is being watched by a string of donors, early-state voters and elites who say they're disenchanted, and in search of a stronger candidate. Continue Reading Republican activist Joni Scotter told POLITICO she got a surprise phone call this afternoon from Perry, asking about the political landscape...

And, now, the group Americans for Rick Perry reports it has raised a fair amount of money in a short amount of time. Bob Schuman, a senior strategist for Americans for Rick Perry, said Thursday that the group is expanding its fundraising operation outside of Texas to include Miami, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. The group can accept unlimited donations but, under federal law, can't strategize with Perry himself.

A California lawmaker who endorsed Mitt Romney for president has now signed a letter asking Texas Gov. Rick Perry to get in the 2012 race. The Los Angeles Times reported that Assemblyman Paul Cook, a Yucaipa Republican, joined more than 20 people in signing the letter. The paper added that “more potential Romney defectors may sign the letter in coming days, according to a GOP source familiar with the meeting.” (GOP candidates’ fundraising starts slowly) Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, is viewed by many as the closest thing to the front-runner in the crowded race.

Rick O'Donnell, a former special adviser to the University of Texas System who received a $70,000 settlement, this week skewered top UT officials for trying to block the release of faculty productivity data, accusing them of orchestrating a scare campaign to pit donors and alumni against regents pushing for changes at the system. He also took shots at state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, who chairs the higher education committee, saying she went to bat for university brass due to overly cozy relations between lawmakers and public universities. Faculty and administrators "basically want to be left alone," O'Donnell said. "They push...