Rick Perry Tells SC Voters 'I Am Going to Stay in This Race' - East Idaho News
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Rick Perry Tells SC Voters ‘I Am Going to Stay in This Race’

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Getty 122711 RickPerry?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1326099210994Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(SPARTANBURG, S.C.) — Five days after he expressed hesitancy about continuing in the presidential race, Texas Gov. Rick Perry made his awaited return to South Carolina on Sunday, sending a message to voters in the state that he’s not a quitter.

“I’ve never quit a day in my life.  I have never quit in the face of adversity, and I’m not just about to quit on the future of America.  I am going to stay in this race and stay in this fight because our children in this country are worth the fight,” Perry told a crowd of 125 South Carolinians at the Beacon Drive-In.

Perry rerouted his campaign to Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, cancelling 10 events in South Carolina, after expressing a desire to reassess his place in the presidential race, but quickly made up his mind and decided to press on.

On Sunday, the Texas governor characterized the presidency as his “target,” comparing it to his 16-year courtship of his wife, Anita, before she agreed to marry him.

“For 16 years I pursued her.  Don’t anybody get confused that I am not one of these guys that when I got a target in my sight, I don’t give up,” Perry said.  “If you want an analogy on this presidential race that’s a good one there.  The target’s in the sight and I’m not giving up.  It’s not going to take me 16 years to get it done, though.  We’re going to stay in here and make this thing happen.”

Perry is battling with Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich for the social conservative vote in the Palmetto State, but he also has his eye on denting Mitt Romney’s lead in the state.

“If you want to know how somebody’s going to perform in the future, look to their past,” Perry said.  “As a matter of fact, Mitt said, ‘If you want to know how I’m going to perform, look at my record,’ and I have, Mitt.”

“I don’t like it,” a woman in the audience said.

“I’m with you ma’am,” Perry responded, drawing laughs from the audience.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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