CNN is reporting that Gov. Rick Perry will no longer be a Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential nomination by the time tonight's debate begins in South Carolina.
Reports are mounting that Texas governor Rick Perry will end his presidential bid Thursday, before the upcoming CNN debate in South Carolina.
CNN reports that the governor will drop out before the debate, which is scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. (ET). They are also reporting that “a source with knowledge of Perry’s decision” said that Gov. Perry “will indicated his support for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich but will not explicitly endorse him.”
Update: Rick Perry on Newt Gingrich: 'There is forgiveness for those who seek God'
Perry, who was surging much earlier on in the Republican presidential bid effort, has been garnering less and less support as the process continues. He placed fifth in the Iowa Caucus, and finished dead last in the New Hampshire primary. Perry had insisted that he did not actively compete for the votes in New Hampshire, because he planned to focus on a bid to win South Carolina.
The South Carolina primary is scheduled for this Saturday, Jan. 21.
"South Carolinians are looking for a conservative candidate that will get this country back working again and I am it," Perry told CNN just last week. However, CNN followed up with the candidate this week, questioning him about a recent poll which showed the governor with only six percent support among the likely South Carolina primary voters.
"We're convinced that that's our goal, so the idea that we're going to do anything else,” Perry told CNN in response to the inquiry, “other than try to impact this election is - that's why we got in it. We didn't get in it because it was our purpose in life to be the president of the United States. We did it because it was our purpose to serve this country, and that's what we've been called for, and that's what we're going to continue doing."
The CNN/Southern Republican Presidential Debate hosted by John King is scheduled for tonight, Thursday, Jan. 19, at 8 p.m. (ET).
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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