Republican
Rick Perry drops out of presidential race
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[September 12, 2015]
By Erin McPike and John Whitesides
(Reuters) - Republican Rick Perry,
struggling to raise money and languishing near the bottom in
presidential opinion polls, on Friday became the first member of the
crowded Republican field to drop out of the 2016 White House race.
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Perry, the former Texas governor, had been excluded from the
initial prime-time Republican debates and was forced to stop paying
some members of his staff recently after his campaign funds ran low.
"Today I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United
States," he said during a speech in St. Louis, Missouri, adding that
the Republicans have a "tremendous" field of candidates.
"I step aside knowing our party is in good hands, and as long as we
listen to the grassroots, the cause of conservatism will be too," he
said.
Perry was making his second bid for the White House after a failed
campaign in 2012 that was most remembered for his "oops" moment in a
debate when he forgot the third government department he was
pledging to eliminate.
Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history, had languished
near the bottom of the 17-strong Republican presidential pack since
he entered the race in June.
"I give you this news with no regrets," Perry said of his decision
to end his White House hopes, saying it had been "a privilege and an
honor" to run.
Perry was excluded from last month's first prime-time televised
debate because he was not among the top 10 Republicans in opinion
polls. On Thursday, CNN, the host of next week's second prime-time
debate, announced that Perry did not make the cut for that one
either.
Perry had to stop paying some staff in key early-voting states such
as South Carolina and New Hampshire in August as his campaign funds
began to dry up, although some staff stayed on as volunteers.
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His Republican rivals rushed to offer praise after Perry withdrew.
Donald Trump, the real estate mogul and Republican front-runner who
earlier this year mocked Perry's thick-framed glasses, tweeted that
Perry was "a terrific guy and I wish him well - I know he will have
a great future."
Perry had presented himself as a more thoughtful, policy-oriented
candidate during his campaign, calling on Republicans to court black
voters and touting his record in Texas as a national model for
economic success.
He stressed his experience dealing with immigration issues as Texas
governor and pledged to secure the southern U.S. border with Mexico
and tear up the nuclear agreement with Iran.
But he also had to grapple with charges against him in an
abuse-of-power case stemming from his time as governor.
(For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog,
“Tales from the Trail” (http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/)
(Reporting by Erin McPike and Ginger Gibson; Writing by John
Whitesides; Editing by Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler)
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