"Most people don't know him, and if they do, he comes off as a right-wing rube"

John Feehery, a veteran GOP operative in Washington, largely dismissed Perry’s chances.

“Most people don’t know him, and if they do, he comes off as a right-wing rube,” Feehery said. “He won’t compete in New Hampshire or Michigan. I doubt he would do very well in Florida. Iowa is now [Michele] Bachmann’s. He could do well in South Carolina, but I don’t know if that would give him enough momentum,” he continued, referring to some of the early nominating states in the GOP primary…

Carney, however, suggested that if Perry runs, he won’t try a regional strategy and would instead compete in all the early states, campaigning for the votes of all Republicans. Carney said he’s spoken to political operatives all over the country about a potential campaign. But a political strategy, he said, is not part of the calculus of deciding whether to seek the nation’s highest office…

“What we’re trying to do is figure out whether we can raise the money necessary while not using all of the governor’s time,” Carney said, explaining that he would hope to put together a strong finance committee that could raise hefty cash on its own without having to dispatch Perry to too many fundraising events.