COUNTDOWN

Rick Perry to Run in 2012

Will announce presidential bid on Saturday.

In a recent interview with Time magazine’s Mark Halperin, Texas Gov. Rick Perry all but formally announced he was running for president in 2012. Conversations with his wife, who “made me realize that I couldn’t sit on the sidelines if my country’s future truly is at stake,” and former president George W. Bush helped him reach a decision. Bush allegedly warned him that he wouldn’t want to “wake up when you’re 70 and go, ‘I wish I had tried that. I wish I had done that.’” When asked if he was intimidated by the idea of running for president of the United States, Perry swiftly replied, “No.” His staff said he will announce his bid on Saturday at a conservative gathering in South Carolina. Perry, who is the longest-serving governor in Texas history, would be one of the top Republican candidates upon entering the race.