"We don't talk to reporters. Y'all twist around what we say."

His roots are rural: He’s a farmer-rancher by trade, and his supporters say the reason he understands the plight of small business owners is because in his younger days he ran the family’s cotton farm. He rails against centralized government because he thinks it’s too far removed from the people it governs. It’s certainly plain to see that the trappings of Washington couldn’t be any farther away from the modesty of Paint Creek, where clouds of dust still blow behind the cars that travel from farm to farm, and signs other than those pointing out the names of roads are hard to come by; billboards and political displays are non-existent.

Perry’s parents still live in the house where he grew up in this tiny farming town about an hour’s drive north of Abilene in West Texas, and they don’t seem enthused by the prospect of their son, the Texas governor, running for the presidency.

“We don’t talk to reporters,” his father, Ray, said when he answered his door this week. “Y’all twist around what we say.” Despite promises to the contrary, the elder Perry had no interest in bragging about his son, although there was a small sign promoting him affixed to the window next to his front door.