Texas Gov. Rick Perry says his political future likely includes a bid for re-election in 2014 — and maybe another run for president in 2016.
Perry, one of the longest-serving governors in U.S. history, said he “will give it a good examination” when asked during a
CBS 11 News interview if he would seek the Republican presidential nomination again.
“2016 is way down the road, but I’ll assure you one thing,” Perry told the Dallas-Fort Worth TV station. “If I decide to run for the presidency in 2016, I’ll be way in before the summer of 2016; 2015, even.”
When asked by political reporter Jack Fink if there was anything to speculation that he would seek an fourth term as governor in 2014, Perry said he would give it “appropriate consideration.”
“My instincts are very positive towards it right now, but we’ll wait until after the legislative session to make that announcement,” he said.
The next legislative session begins next January and will end in late May.
If he does run for president, Perry said he would be better candidate because of the hard lessons he learned during this year’s ill-fated attempt to capture the GOP nomination.
Perry acknowledged the turmoil that followed his most embarrassing gaffe — forgetting during a nationally televised debated the name of a federal agency he vowed to eliminate if elected.
But he said his worst mistake was attacking opponents of a Texas policy that grants college financial assistance to children of foreign nationals who are in America illegally.
During a debate last year, he defended the program, telling its opponents, “I think you don’t have a heart.”
“I apologized for that,” he said in the CBS interview, “but I think the damage was done.”
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