Not So Smooth Criminal: Indicted Rick Perry Drops Out Of White House Race

Indicted former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has announced that he is suspending his 2016 presidential campaign and dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination.

In a speech that he will deliver tonight, Perry will say that he is dropping out due to lack of money and staff, “That is why today I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States.”

Perry was doomed from the start. He was never able to recover from his spectacular flameout when he ran for the 2012 Republican nomination. Rick Perry has been a walking punchline since he couldn’t remember the name of the Department of Energy during a Republican debate in 2011.

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Rick Perry is still facing a felony abuse of power count in Texas, and it has always been more likely that the former Governor would end up in prison than in the White House. Perry’s campaign has been plagued by money problems. Stories have been swirling for months that he could not afford to pay his staff in the early primary states.

Gov. Perry will blame the demise of his second presidential bid on the lack of money, but the reality is that there was no interest in Rick Perry as a presidential candidate.

Perry got himself a pair of smart boy glasses and tried to remake his image, but the damage was done on that debate night in 2011. Rick Perry will officially be the first candidate out of the 2016 field.

One down, fifteen more to go.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association