Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry said Monday that he is confident his campaign will finish in the top-tier of Tuesday’s Iowa caucus.
“Forty-one percent of the folks in Iowa haven’t made their decision yet. That’s one of the reasons why we’re in the midst of a major bus tour and we’ll end up in Perry, Iowa this evening with a great rally,” said Mr. Perry, appearing on NBC’s Today Show.
“I feel very confident, we have a great ground game, over 1,500 precinct captains that are going to be going to the caucuses for us. Over 500 volunteers have descended upon Iowa from over 32 different states to share with the people of Iowa about Rick Perry,” the Texas Republican added.
Mr. Perry, who has failed to gain serious support in recent polls, has sought to increase his profile in the state of Iowa in recent days. The Texas Republican spent much of December campaigning in the state, all the while polls continued to show him well behind former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
Speaking later in the day, Mr. Perry reiterated his prediction, citing a recently released Des Moines Register poll, which found upwards of 40 percent of voters remain undecided.
In an interview with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, Mr. Perry said his campaign would likely try to target the group of undecided voter, adding that “we’re going to do fine. We’re going to be in the top tier. This race is a long way from being won.”
Mr. Perry’s statement comes as the Texas Republican sought to downplay a recent surge in support for former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Rick Santorum. Speaking Monday, Mr. Perry slammed the Pennsylvania Republican, citing his support for raising the nation’s debt ceiling while serving in Congress.
“You’ve got Rick Santorum who’s talked about being a fiscal conservative , but he’s voted eight times to raise the debt ceiling. He’s raised the debt ceiling more than Obama has. He’s a serial earmarker and as a matter of fact stood up as late as yesterday and said he was proud of all those earmarks,” said Mr. Perry.
