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.