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Gov. Rick Perry is putting his months of attacks on Mitt Romney behind him and rallying to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's banner. The Texas Republican makes his first campaign trip on behalf of Romney on Friday when he visits Elko, Nev. He'll make two evening stops there Friday evening, with visits to the Silver State Stampede Rodeo and a Romney campaign office. Romney, who's a former Massachusetts governor, isn't expected to appear. Nevada is a key state Obama won in 2008.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry originally endorsed Newt Gingrich as the top candidate after dropping out of the Republican presidential race. But with Gingrich set to quit the campaign trail, Perry on Wednesday evening gave his support to the probable nominee, Mitt Romney. "Mitt Romney has earned the Republican presidential nomination through hard work, a strong organization, and [a] disciplined message of restoring America after nearly four years of failed job-killing policies from President [Barack] Obama and his administration," Perry said in a statement provided to FOX News Channel. "So today I join the many conservative Republicans across the nation in...

They call me America’s Toughest Sheriff. I don’t tolerate illegal activity. I don’t coddle criminals. And I refuse to sit idly by while Washington turns a blind eye towards illegal immigration and border security. As Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, I know that our porous southern border puts all of America at risk. It’s time we had a president who knew that, too. That’s why I support Rick Perry for president, and I hope you will join me. Unlike other candidates, Rick Perry has never been the choice of the political establishment, never been a paid lobbyist and never served...

A former Texas Supreme Court justice whose appointment by Gov. Rick Perry led to accusations of racial pandering was part of a Federal District Court decision Thursday to issue a new voting district map for Texas that will likely overturn the map proposed by the Texas Legislature and is designed to create ethnic voting districts for Latinos. U.S. District Court Judge Xavier Rodriguez joined with another Latino justice from the three-justice federal panel — Clinton-appointee Judge Orlando Garcia — to issue the racially-drawn map, which has not yet been given final approval. Lawyers for the Democrats and Republicans were given...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry says America should extend work visas to allow illegal immigrants to move freely between the U.S. and their home countries _ but opposes a path to citizenship.

Gov. Rick Perry will win the GOP nomination for the presidency. Here's why. Mitt Romney is a certified RINO, a ruling class Republican of the type that spawned the Tea Party. There would be no Tea Party were it not for big government, country club Republicans like Mitt Romney. Herman Cain does not have the money or organization to go the distance, Newt Gingrich is too flawed personally, Michelle Bachmann is out of gas, and Ron Paul is and will always be a fringe candidate. Rick Santorum has yet to gain any real traction and that is unlikely to change....

Fundraising figures released over the weekend demonstrate that only two Republican candidates -- Mitt Romney and Rick Perry -- enter the dash to the nomination with both the financial support and the campaign infrastructure that equip them fully to compete. And the Obama campaign -- eager to ensure that no candidates get free rides in the primaries -- has already begun making assumptions about whom President Obama is likely to face in the general election. That means Romney is coming under pressure from both sides, even as he seeks to consolidate Republican support early in the process. Before we get...

Rick Perry can't get out of his own way. During the presidential debates, he has reviled three immigration issues that Republicans hold dear: passing mandatory E-Verify legislation, rejecting federal and state versions of the DREAM Act, and building a border fence. About E-Verify, Perry foolishly claims that it would not make "a hill of beans" worth of difference. Regarding the DREAM Act, Perry said that those who disagree with his decision to enact it in 2001 "don't have a heart." As for the border fence, Perry insists that it is "idiocy" to build it. The debates represented Perry's chance to...

The lines of argument are hardening as the party's leading presidential candidates, who delivered speeches here on Saturday, continued to dig in for what Republicans believe could be a long and bitter fight for the nomination that extends into the spring as new rules allow contenders to pick up delegates even in states where they lose.

Maybe Mitt Romney doesn't realize that nearly all of the rest of children of illegals had no choice in whether to live in Texas or not. If they were brought there by parents who were illegal--how is that the child's fault? Is Romney ready to charge those children with crimes? Mass deportations? Even Romney has not pledged to go that far.

Full title: Perry: "I Don't Think You Have a Heart" If You Oppose In-State Tuition for Children of Illegal Immigrants Perry's response was forceful and personal. "I don't think you have a heart," Perry told his critics. "If you say that we should not educate children who come into our state for no other reason than that they've been brought their through no fault of their own, I don't think you have a heart," Perry said. "We need to be educating these children because they will become a drag on our society. I think that's what Texans wanted to do....

Rick Perry’s Campaign Approach Is Hitting All the Right Notes Seth Mandel July 26, 2011 A pro-Rick Perry group is taking advantage of a new rule in the Iowa straw poll that allows voters to write in a candidate. GrowPAC will air radio ads in Iowa urging voters to write in Perry’s name in the Ames straw poll next month. The move would–if the ad works–help Perry in two ways: it would reveal public support for Perry without having to meet expectations, as he would if his name were officially on the ballot, and it will drain support from Perry’s...

Should Rick Perry conclude that voter discontent has left him an opening to enter the presidential race, the Texas governor would be among the Republican field's most conservative candidates. Rick Perry rejects the idea of global warming and the theory of evolution, arguing for natural climate variations and intelligent design of the universe. He branded Social Security and other New Deal safety net programmes "the second big step in the march of socialism," according to a book published last year. The "first step" was a national income tax, which he has said stands alongside the direct election of US senators...

Who has a better chance of winning the Republican nomination?

Perry and Bachmann on GOP Ticket? By Paul Stanley | Christian Post Reporter July 18,2011 Texas Governor Rick Perry seems to be getting closer to entering the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is already a committed candidate and in all respects, has earned “frontrunner” status. This leads many political analyst and pundits to wonder: Could Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann be the ideal “Dream Team” for Republicans in 2012? Perry successful executive experience, combined with Bachmann’s conservative legislative credentials could make an interesting combination, but could present some challenges at the same time. Kyle Kondik, a political...

......Perry also leads a state whose population is growing as its economy grows, a stark contrast to the debt-ridden, job-killing stimulus the Obama administration imposed on the country. It picked up four new congressional seats in the 2010 census as businesses and job-seekers flocked to the state. The issue of the economy would be Perry's trump card in a potential race against Obama. Texas leads the nation in job creation: From 2008 to 2010, as California lost 1.2 million jobs, Texas added 165,000. Michael Cox and Richard Alm of the Center for Global Markets at SMU's Cox School of Business...

...[Gov Rick] Perry regularly asserts that primary and secondary education are the state's top priority, noting that more money will go to schools in the next budget even amid deep cuts elsewhere. The state, however, is underfunding schools by $4 billion — or 6 percent — based on what was called for by state law to keep pace with costs, including those generated by 80,000 new students starting school each year. .....The Texas Education Agency attributed the success on the math test to high standards and quality teachers. Others point to the jump early in the decade to an improved...

WASHINGTON — Rick Perry is the 100 million dollar man of Texas politics. Over the past decade, he has been a political money machine, raising more than $100 million for three gubernatorial campaigns and another $50 million for GOP candidates as chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 2007-2008. But the Texas governor's fundraising prowess will be tested as never before if he runs for president in 2012. While he's raised more campaign cash than anybody not named Bush in Texas history, Perry faces different rules and greater demands should he set his sights on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. "In order...

Rick Perry may just be the guy. The country's longest tenured governor, from its second-largest state, is generating a lot of buzz in conservative circles as he contemplates entering the wide open Republican presidential primary. There are plenty of reasons that Perry is an attractive option: he is a no-nonsense decision-maker with solid conservative credentials. A man who not only speaks about family values, but lives them, Perry's power to persuade voters to see things his way is proven -- battle-tested in a state known for independent-minded citizens. But what serious political analysts on both sides of the aisle will...

Foreward By Newt Gingrich – August 2010 I wish this book had never needed to be written. It almost came too late. America is recklessly accelerating toward economic disaster. Fed Up! may be the last warning sign to the danger that lies ahead. Rick Perry, Texas governor for the past decade, is uniquely qualified to offer a firsthand perspective on why the United States—the most successful civilization in human history—is being threatened with economic collapse. First Principles Faith, freedom, and free enterprise are the pillars of a strong, safe, prosperous society. Rick knows that when these principles are protected, America...