Rick Perry: 'Calmness in My Heart' About Run

Texas Gov. Rick Perry doesn't quite make his candidacy official in an interview with Mark Halperin of Time, but he does say he has a "calmness in my heart" about a possible run. (He is expected to declare on Saturday.) No wonder he's calm: He's not even on the campaign trail, but a new CNN poll shows him near the top of the pack. In the survey, 15% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents say Perry is their first choice, which puts him only 2 percentage points behind leader Mitt Romney.

As the for Time interview, here is Perry's full quote about his state of mind toward a run: "I’m kind of getting to the haul-in point and the idea that, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I mean, this is starting to get to that comfort level and I’ve got the calmness in my heart. I think that was a bit of a hurdle initially but I’m very calm in my heart that this is what I’m supposed to be doing." The Washington Post has an assessment of the full interview here. (More Rick Perry 2012 stories.)