Texas Tribune: “This is a leap, but not a long one: Gov. Rick Perry started his second bid for the Republican nomination for president on Thursday, delivering a valedictory speech to the Texas Legislature on his way out of an office he has held for more than 14 years.”

“Perry offered a look back at his political history and his time as governor, and he presented an assessment of the state during his time in office. Everything he said made perfect sense if you were watching a governor in his last big public address. And a lot of it looked pretty good if you were tuning in to see a candidate making the turn from a successful run in one office to a bid for an even bigger job.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) “is just weeks away from leaving office after more than a decade running Texas — and he is turning his eye beyond the Lone Star State as he looks to kick-start another presidential bid,” The Hill reports.

“Perry will leave the governor’s mansion after 14 years on Jan. 20. Just a few days later, he’ll be in Iowa participating in the state’s first major candidate event of the 2016 campaign. It’s the latest stop in a heavy travel schedule as he edges toward a second run at the White House.”

First Read comments on the flurry of Rick Perry interviews this month:

“Perry is smartly trying to speak to reporters and stoke the 2016 flames while he’s still in office and has the trappings of power. The question: The minute he leaves office, will the support — in Texas and elsewhere — still be there? Does he become a one-man caravan?”

[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]He’s got a tougher path but Perry is doing all the right things at this stage. [/speech_bubble]

“Running for the presidency’s not an IQ test. It is a test of an individual’s resolve. It’s a test of an individual’s philosophy. It’s a test of an individual’s life’s experiences.”

— Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), in a NBC News interview.

Washington Post: “Rick Perry is trying to show that he is not the Rick Perry you remember. Gone, it seems, is the blustery bravado, the empty rhetoric, the cowboy boots — and, yes, the ‘oops’ moments. This Perry comes across as studious, contemplative and humble. He said he is at peace with his 2012 presidential campaign, in which his shoot-first-aim-later approach proved catastrophic, but is hungry to redeem himself.”

“As Perry packs his belongings at the governor’s mansion after 14 years in office, he is undergoing exhaustive preparations to run again for president in 2016. He is striving to make a better second impression than his first one.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) “is inviting hundreds of prominent Republican donors and policy experts to a series of gatherings next month that are intended to rebuild his damaged national brand and lay the foundation for a potential 2016 presidential campaign,” Politico reports.

“The small-group sessions kick off Tuesday and Wednesday in Austin with a pair of lunches and dinners held in the governor’s mansion wedged between policy briefings at the nearby office of Perry senior adviser Jeff Miller. In all, Perry’s team expects he will meet in person with more than 500 major donors and bundlers from around the country in December as well as a slew of operatives, Republican National Committee members and policy experts.”

“It’s never going to go away. It’s always there, just as Bill Clinton’s 1988 convention speech is always there. It’s always part of your past. I’m a big believer that Americans…are interested in how do you perform after you’ve been knocked down.”

— Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), quoted by the Washington Post, on overcoming his failed 2012 presidential bid.

[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]As Rick Perry knows too well, people do forget. [/speech_bubble]

“I’ve got about 60 more days of being the governor of the state of Texas and then I’m going to do something different. You’ll see me again.”

— Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), quoted by the Myrtle Beach Sun News, speaking in South Carolina.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) insisted that he is still six to seven months away from making a decision on a second run for the GOP presidential nomination, NH Journal reports.

Said Perry: “May or June would be my guess when I’ll made a decision on whether I’m going to go forward.”

Rick Klein: “Granted, that’s earlier than the August 2011 start he chose last cycle, though we can probably stipulate that the problems with his candidacy couldn’t have been fixed with two extra months of campaigning. We’re looking at a dozen or more credible candidates on GOP debate stages in the fall, whether or not Perry chooses to join them. But the window for early-announcers is officially open. If Perry won’t be the first serious candidate in, there’s an opportunity for someone (Rand Paul? Ted Cruz?) not to wait for months to start outlining a vision for a party that wants a new voice.”

A Darmouth College student asked Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) if he would have anal sex in exchange for campaign contributions, The Dartmouth reports.

Another question: “I know you have been very strong on all foreign policy issues, including Somali pirates, but what is your stance on butt pirates?”

The student “who wrote and distributed these and other questions, said Perry’s views were more insulting than the questions. Several members of the audience said they were excited to hear Perry speak but offended by the questions.”