Rick Perry to Announce Run in SC

Fresh off his weekend prayer rally, Rick Perry will head to South Carolina on Saturday to make clear he's going to toss his hat into the 2012 presidential race, reports Politico. In so doing, the Texas governor will upend the current field of Republicans seeking the nomination, as well as a straw poll due out that day—the winner of which will immediately have to compete with Perry for attention.

Perry may stop short of an official announcement on Saturday. But hours later, he's due to visit New Hampshire, and is expected in Iowa within a week, insiders tell Politico. “Gov. Perry is authentic, a truth-teller and a job-creating machine in Texas,” Haley Barbour tells the New York Times. “And it sure helps to come from a big donor state like Texas, if you are going to run for president. He will be able to raise the money to compete with Romney.” (More Rick Perry stories.)