“As speculation mounts about his presidential ambitions, Texas Gov. Rick Perry delivered a rousing and unapologetic defense of conservative principles on Saturday at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans…

“‘Stand up!,’ Perry thundered. ‘Let’s speak with pride about our morals and our values and redouble our effort to elect more conservative Republicans. Let’s stop this American downward spiral!’…

“At one point, Perry asked the audience to take out their phones and text the word ‘Freedom’ to a number linked to his political organization, capturing their contact information in the event of a future campaign.”

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“‘Our opponents on the left are never going to like us, so let’s stop trying to curry favor with them,’ he said, before imploring the crowd to ‘stand up. Let’s speak with pride about our values. Let’s stop this American downward spiral.’…

“Of all the speakers of the three-day confab, Perry was the best-received, even more so than Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who was a close second. Perry got a standing ovation when he took the stage, several times during his speech, and at the end.

“‘He’s the man,’ one man said to a woman right after Perry’s speech.

“‘Him and Bachmann,’ she responded. ‘That’s the ticket.'”

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“Perry was the star of the conference, with so many other big names in the presidential race not appearing. The audience gave a rousing ovation when the public address announcer began to introduce what people thought was Perry — it turned out to actually be the man introducing Perry. And by the end of his speech, the crowd chanted ‘Run, Rick, run,’ for more than a full minute.”

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“Rick Perry’s top strategist said Saturday that the Texas governor is still ‘at least weeks’ away from making a decision about whether to run for president, a daunting financial and logistical undertaking even without the time pressures of a late entry…

“Carney, in an extensive breakfast interview with the Tribune, said it was still a ’50-50′ proposition.

“‘We don’t even know all the logistics of it. This is not a situation where you throw your hat into the ring and say ‘I’m next.’ There’s a lot of effort that has to go into this,’ Carney said…

“‘I think our advantage is our record compared to Obama’s record. We would look at  the success of creating a jobs at a time when the entire county is losing jobs .. and not just some jobs, almost the majority of jobs,’ Carney told the Tribune. ‘The governor’s philosophy is so perfectly balanced, as a counterbalance, to Obama’s philosophy, that I think we would make it a very compelling case. It’s not a feeling. It’s a reality.'”

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“‘I do think he’ll get in. And it won’t be because he wants to, it’ll be because he thinks he needs to,’ said Bill Crocker, chairman of the Texas Republican Party.”

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Via the Right Scoop.