The Midday Brief: Aug. 8, 2011

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Gov. Rick Perry will make it clear he's jumping into the 2012 presidential race during an appearance this weekend in South Carolina, Republican sources said Monday." — Perry Will Make Clear He's Running for President
  

• "In our latest unscientific survey of Capitol and political insiders, we asked if they have any remaining doubts that Rick Perry will run for president, and how they think he'd do in that race." — Inside Intelligence: With Perry on the Verge...

• "DAY 8 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: Armed with fewer resources, educators prepare students for rigorous new STAAR test." — 31 Days, 31 Ways: Students Switch from TAKS to STAAR

Your afternoon reading:

• "Rick Perry intends to use a speech in South Carolina on Saturday to make clear that he's running for president, POLITICO has learned. … It's uncertain whether Saturday will mark a formal declaration, but Perry's decision to disclose his intentions the same day as the Ames straw poll — and then hours later make his first trip to New Hampshire — will send shock waves through the race and upend whatever results come out of the straw poll." — Rick Perry to make 2012 intentions clear Saturday, Politico

• "While most of the rest of the Republican presidential field will be in Iowa this Saturday for the straw poll, Gov. Rick Perry is heading to New Hampshire for a meet-and-greet at the home of a state lawmaker as he continues to test the waters of a potential presidential bid." — Gov. Rick Perry is New Hampshire bound, Texas Politics

• "With the Iowa Straw Poll less than a week away, a new poll shows that Gov. Rick Perry is not running quite as strong in the Hawkeye State as he does nationally." — Perry in fourth in Iowa poll as he prepares likely announcement, Trail Blazers

• "In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Donald Trump praised the Texas governor, as well as active GOP White House candidate Michele Bachmann and possible contender Sarah Palin.  'I do know the governor of Texas,' Trump told Blitzer. 'He’s a very interesting candidate, I think, a very interesting candidate.'" — Donald Trump says he’s intrigued by a Rick Perry presidential candidacy, Texas on the Potomac