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Rick Perry Will Run for President

Announcement to come later this summer, source says.

Add another one to the already-lengthy list: Rick Perry has decided to run for president, an informed Republican source says. The Texas governor had previously ruled out a run, but he picked up several top staffers after Newt Gingrich’s staff imploded and was said to be reconsidering. Perry will announce his run sometime this summer, likely before the Iowa Straw Poll on August 13. With his outspoken Texas attitude, accent, and approach, he’d provide a strong contrast to smoother-talking, calmer, more northern candidates like Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, and Tim Pawlenty, and has social conservative bona fides to boot. But for what it’s worth, his camp officially says he’s still thinking about it.