Texas Gov. Rick Perry is studying up on policy issues, a sign he hopes to address problems created by poor debate performances in the 2012 presidential campaign.
The Republican governor has met with business leaders and policy experts over the past year including a former ambassador, the chairman of JPMorgan Chase, according to a review of his official calendar by the Dallas Morning News.
“There is a clear difference between last time and this time, if he decides to run,” Mark Miner, who served as a spokesman for Perry during his 2012 bid, said.
The review included his official calendar from July 1, 2013, to July 31, 2014, obtained through Texas’ open records law.
The records show he has spent more than 100 days out of the state, with many trips to Iowa, South Carolina, New York, Washington, D.C., and California.
He is currently in Japan, addressing the American Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo. He then will head to China, before going to England, Poland, Croatia, Romania and the Baltics later this fall.
A RealClearPolitics average of polls of the possible 2016 Republican presidential candidates has Perry in sixth place, behind New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Paul Ryan and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
