Confirmed: Texas Gov. Rick Perry Will Announce He’s Running for President in South Carolina on Saturday

It’s official. A spokesman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he will announce he is running for President of the United States on Saturday at a speech before the “RedState Gathering” in South Carolina:

CBS NEWS: Texas Gov. Rick Perry is running for president, a spokesman confirmed Thursday, a move certain to shake up the race for the Republican nomination much to the delight of conservatives looking for a candidate to embrace.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the governor would make his intentions known on Saturday while visiting the crucial early primary states of South Carolina and New Hampshire just as most of his presidential rivals compete in a test vote in another key state, Iowa.

Official word of Perry’s entrance into the race came just hours before eight candidates, including Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, were to appear on stage during a nationally televised debate.

On Sunday, Perry will speak at a Republican fundraiser in Iowa for the Black Hawk County Republicans, his campaign confirmed to the CBS News earlier this week. His decision to travel to the crucial first-in-the-nation voting state signals that he plans to compete aggressively there for the Republican presidential nomination. . . . Read More

Perry’s announcement in South Carolina very likely signals that he views winning the South Carolina Primary as crucial to his chances of winning the nomination. Everyone is focused on the chances it will hurt the feelings of people in Iowa for him to announce in South Carolina Saturday – the date of the Iowa Straw Poll – but it just may also help him with the people in South Carolina. Perry is going to go to New Hampshire on Saturday as well, and will then travel to Iowa on Sunday.