The Fast Fix: Five fast facts about Rick Perry

Chris Cillizza

Rick Perry is a serious contender for the Republican presidential nod. Here are five things you need to know about him.

Texas Governor Rick Perry enters the 2012 presidential race greeted by polls suggesting he is a serious contender for the Republican nomination.

Here are five fast facts on Rick Perry:

1. Perry was a yell leader at Texas A&M University. It's a much sought-after position and an early indication of Perry's political aspirations.

2. He used to be a Democrat. Perry was elected to a West Texas state House seat in 1984 as a Democrat and even served as Al Gore's Texas chairman during the 1988 presidential race. He switched to the GOP in 1989.

3. Perry's first statewide office in Texas was as Agriculture Commissioner. Expect him to remind Iowa voters of that fact early and often given the state's farming-based economy.

4. Perry is the longest serving governor in the country currently. He took office in December 2000 after George W. Bush was elected president and won a third full term in 2010. That means a long record to run on -- or from.

5. Perry is a big believer in states' right and the 10th amendment. He once floated the idea that Texas could secede if the federal government kept overstepping its bounds.

Rick Perry is a naturally charismatic politician whose political base in Texas could make him formidable. His challenge is selling himself to an electorate still weary from the last Texas governor who ran for president.

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