Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry announced Friday that he will be fully participating in Florida’s late September Presidency 5 (P5) debate, straw poll, and Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“Florida is very important to me, and I am looking forward to bringing my pro-jobs conservative message to Florida and the Presidency 5 straw poll events,” said Perry in a statement. “I have also assembled a strong team of Florida Republican professionals to help carry my record and vision for job creation and fiscal conservatism to the voters of the Sunshine State.”
Perry’s foray into the retirement mecca of Florida will be of special interest as the governor has been aggressive in his criticism of Social Security, long considered to be the third-rail of politics — especially among seniors.
“It is a monstrous lie. It is a Ponzi scheme,” Perry said Wednesday night at the Reagan Library Republican debate. “Anybody that’s for the status quo with Social Security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids.”
The governor’s announcement also highlights the fact that the GOP’s other presidential front-runner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will not be participating.
“Our campaign has made the decision to not participate in any straw polls, whether it’s in Florida, Iowa, Michigan or someplace else,” Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades said in a statement in June. “We respect the straw poll process. In the last presidential campaign, we were both strengthened as an organization and learned some important lessons by participating in them. This time we will focus our energies and resources on winning primaries and caucuses.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum will be participating in the Republican presidential straw poll. (RELATED: Ron Paul responds to confrontational debate photos with Perry)
CPAC Florida marks the conference’s first venture outside of Washington, DC since its founding in 1973.