Authors: Rebecca Fenton
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(CHALRESTON, S.C.) -- It’s official: Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced his candidacy for president Saturday in Charleston, S.C., almost nine months after the Texan vowed he was not interested in pursuing a presidential run.
"I came to South Carolina because I will not sit back and accept the path America is on because a great country requires a better direction because a renewed nation needs a new president," Perry said. "It is time to get America working again and that's why with the support of my family and the unwavering belief of the goodness of America I declare for you today that I'm a candidate for President of the United States."
Perry announced his candidacy at the RedState Gathering, a convention of more than 300 conservative bloggers, before a backdrop of American flags. Portraits of President Ronald Reagan and President Theodore Roosevelt adorned the room, along with paintings of the Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Liberty and George Washington crossing the Delaware River with troops.
The Obama campaign was quick to respond to Perry's announcement, saying Perry is "more of the same" in a statement issued immediately after Perry's speech.
"Governor Perry's economic policies are a carbon copy of the economic policies of Washington Republicans. He pledged to support the cut cap and balance plan that would preserve subsidies for oil and gas companies and tax cuts for the wealthiest while ending Medicare as we know it, eroding Social Security, eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs and erasing investments in education and research and development," Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said in the statement.
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