He's the front-runner as of right now.
"Governor Perry won’t seek fourth term in Texas" Associated Press, July 09, 2013
SAN ANTONIO — Governor Rick Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history, did not say whether another run for the White House in 2016 could be next.
Related: Rick Perry’s October trip to Israel sign of another White House bid
That's a yes.
Perry was considered a champion of conservative social activism long before the Tea Party was born. He oversaw the ‘‘Texas Miracle’’ job-creation boom and became the state’s most powerful governor since Reconstruction.
Menial minimum-wage miracles, but that's AmeriKa in the 21st century.
But nationally, Perry is better known for his “oops” presidential debate brain freeze or for not opposing forcefully enough the notion that Texas could secede from the union.
Related: This Post is Pure Texas Gold
Not as well known for that. So much for being president.
For many outside the Lone Star State, he’s a political punchline on par with Dan Quayle....
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Related: Perry to Perform Delivery of Abortion Bill
His path to the presidency:
"Texas lawmakers convene to revive abortion bill; Demonstrators rally at Capitol during session" by Will Weissert | Associated Press, July 02, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas — Thousands of demonstrators converged on the Texas Capitol on Monday, the majority expressing their opposition to new abortion restrictions that a Democratic filibuster and raucous protests derailed last week.
Lawmakers briefly convened a special legislative session aimed at reviving the bill....
The Legislature recessed less than an hour after convening. That was just long enough to refer the abortion legislation to committees for public hearings.
Less than one week earlier, Democrats scored a rare victory in the GOP-dominated Legislature by running out the clock on the first special session.
Democratic Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth was on her feet for more than 12 hours — speaking most of that time — during the Democratic filibuster. When Republicans used parliamentary technicalities to silence her, hundreds of protesters in the public gallery and surrounding Capitol corridors cheered so loudly that work on the bill couldn’t be completed before the midnight deadline.
Nothing about the time-stamp vote forgeries.
Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst took no chances with raucous protesters in the second special session on Monday. Security was much tighter than before, with troopers — some of them in riot gear — throughout the Capitol complex....
Dewhurst said the Senate would make one major procedural change as well. Rather than follow tradition and require a two-thirds vote to bring up a bill for consideration, he said it would take only a simple majority during this session. That could prove critical because Democrats hold 12 out of 31 seats and successfully blocked the abortion law during the regular legislative session.
On the House side, State Affairs Chairman Byron Cook, Republican of Corsicana, said he would only allow less than nine hours of public testimony on the bill. Public protests erupted two weeks ago when he cut off testimony during the last session after 12 hours and denied more than 260 women the chance to speak.
‘‘A wise man once said, nothing good happens after midnight,’’ Cook said, explaining why he was limiting testimony....
Unless you are working on a blog.
The soonest the bill could pass the full Legislature is July 10, unless the Republican majorities suspend the rules to move it sooner. Governor Rick Perry could sign the bill into law almost immediately....
Democrats can do little to stop the bill this time, only slow it down with parliamentary procedure. A late start gave Davis a chance to filibuster the bill on the last day of the session, but with 30 days in the new one, a repeat seems nearly impossible....
Austin Democratic Senator Kirk Watson, suggesting the bill will likely end up in court. ‘‘If they win this battle ... I believe we will win the war.’’
More than 5,000 demonstrators gathered at noon to oppose the new abortion restrictions as television stars and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks rallied the cheering crowd.
I love the Dixie Chicks because of hat they said about Bush.
Davis told the crowd that their support helped her maintain the effort.
‘‘You were at the crux of a turning point in Texas history,’’ Davis said.
For two weeks.
Opponents wore orange T-shirts and prepared for a rally with national women’s rights leaders. Supporters wore blue and recited the Lord’s Prayer outside the Senate.
The measure’s supporters were scheduled to hold their own rally.
Not as much agenda-pushing coverage of those two-sentence protests.
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Related: Texas House sets vote on abortion restrictions
"There is little Democrats can do to stop the measure this time.The Senate could cast a final vote as early as Friday.... The circuslike atmosphere in the Texas Capitol marked the culmination of weeks of protests, the most dramatic of which came June 25 in the final minutes of the last special legislative session, when a Democratic filibuster and subsequent protest prevented the bill from becoming law."
UPDATE: Texas Democrats vow legal fight after abortion bill passes
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Texas abortion law may leave women with risky choices
