Perry seems to inch closer to White House run

HOUSTON

He has spent weeks making calls to potential donors and sizing up the competition. And with time running out, we should know either way soon.

Gov. Perry spoke to Texas reporters Monday afternoon for the first time in a long time, but he didn't make too much news. His schedule and behind the scenes work though is speaking for him.

He's been traveling all over the country, but no trips to Iowa where the first presidential contest is just four weeks away. However, he's called all sorts of influential Republicans there in the last month and told an Iowa newspaper there he's closer than ever.

In Austin on Monday to sign a health care bill into law, Gov. Perry said, "I'm going through an appropriate, thoughtful process and you know what I think of you and you'll be some of the first to know."

He's inched much closer to a run for the White House since May when he let on he was thinking about running for president.

This weekend Gov. Perry offered the political equivalent of being a little bit pregnant, telling the Des Moines Register newspaper, "I'm not ready to tell you that I'm ready to announce that I'm in, but I'm getting more and more comfortable every day that this is what I've been called to do. This is what America needs."

It sounds as if the governor is led, at least in part, by prayer to this decision.

"As an elected leader, I am all too aware of government's limitations on fixin' things that are spiritual in nature. That's where prayer comes in," said Gov. Perry in a video for The Response, his day of prayer and fasting on August 6 here in Houston.

The governor has never been quiet about his faith, but is increasingly talking about it.

Many Perry watchers tell Eyewitness News that it's unlikely he would announce anything formal about a White House run before that date. But the only one who really knows is Perry himself and he's not giving many specific hints.

"We're going through a thoughtful, steady process of making a decision. And when we make that decision, we'll let you all know," Gov. Perry said Monday.

More news out of North Carolina were a poll that puts Perry up against President Barack Obama. Perry wins 45 percent to 42 percent. However, the pollsters didn't ask about any other Republicans.

When pollsters do include all Republicans, Perry is number three behind Mitt Romney and Michelle Bachmann. That's not bad for an unannounced candidate.