This GOP Candidate Will Be the First to Drop out of 2016 Race
By Theodore Schleifer. Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who insisted he learned lessons from his disastrous 2012 presidential campaign, dropped his second bid for the White House on Friday after just 100 days.
“Today, I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States,” Perry said in an address in St. Louis that virtually mirrored his standard stump speech until the very end. “Life is good. I am a blessed man.”
The departure of Perry, who had little support in early-voting states or among the GOP donor class, is unlikely to alter the contours of the Republican race. But Perry nevertheless implored his supporters in an email to back a candidate who embodies the principles of conservatism.
“The conservative movement has always been about principles, not personalities,” Perry said, before making a not-too-veiled swipe at Donald Trump, the GOP’s current front-runner. “Our nominee should embody those principles. He — or she — must make the case for the cause of conservatism more than the cause of their own celebrity”…
He raised only about $1 million in the first fundraising quarter, and he never had enough supporters for him to earn a spot in the premier GOP debates. Back in Texas, he remained under indictment on an abuse-of-power charge. (Read more about this GOP candidate HERE)
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After Being Consigned to an Undercard Debate, Perry Drops Out
By B. Christopher Agee. Just days before the second Republican presidential debate, the Associated Press reported Friday that Rick Perry is on the cusp of becoming the first to bow out of the race. Western Journalism previously reported that the former Texas governor was one of five candidates to be consigned to an undercard debate preceding CNN’s prime-time presidential faceoff Wednesday.
According to two separate AP sources, Perry will announce his decision Friday evening at an event in Missouri.
Speculation has brewed for roughly the last month that Perry – who ended his 2012 presidential bid in January of that year – would be the first GOP contender to drop out.
"Today I step aside knowing as long as we fight for the cause of conservatism, our nation is in good hands." – @GovernorPerry
— Rick Perry (@GovernorPerry) September 11, 2015
Politico reported in August that roughly half of the Democrats in early primary states shared such a prediction, along with nearly as many Republicans. The recognition that his campaign was in trouble, however, was not necessarily a denunciation of his message. (Read more from “This GOP Candidate Will Be the First to Drop out of 2016 Race” HERE)
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