Even Texans Don’t Support a Rick Perry Presidential Campaign

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After Mitch Daniels and Mike Huckabee decided against entering the 2012 presidential race, some Republicans continue to hope that another big-name contender—Jeb Bush? New Jersey governor Chris Christie?—will enter the race and liven up a GOP field short on serious challengers. One name often tossed out is Texas governor Rick Perry, a red-meat social conservative beloved by the tea party with national star power.

But there’s one problem: Republicans in Perry’s home state wouldn’t even vote for him if he ran for president. That’s the big takeaway from a new poll by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune, which found that only 4 percent of Texas GOPers would vote for Perry if he ran. “This is a major question for a guy who’s getting national buzz,” said pollster Daron Shaw. “He hasn’t convinced Texans that he’s a presidential frontrunner.”

The favorite among Texas Republicans, the poll found, is Sarah Palin, who hasn’t announced whether she’s running or not in 2012. Newt Gingrich finishes a close second, with 11 percent, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) and Mike Huckabee take third with 10 percent. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) each claimed 7 percent.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

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