It's Official: S.C. Speaker Harrell Backs Perry

S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Jr. on Tuesday afternoon announced his endorsement of Texas Gov. Rick Perry to a packed gallery inside the State House.

Along with his wife, Cathy, Harrell cited Perry's economic record in Texas in making his endorsement. In contrast to President Obama, Harrell said that Texas, under Perry's leadership, had "outpaced the nation in economic growth, tax relief and job creation."

“Speaker Harrell is a proven conservative and respected leader,” said Perry. “His endorsement speaks to the growing support of our campaign and my conservative record, and I look forward to working with him and the rest of our South Carolina team as I continue to travel the nation sharing my vision for how we will get America working again.”

In addition to the media, supporters, GOP lawmakers, staffers, and onlookers, more than a dozen protesters from Occupy Columbia also were in attendance, but otherwise did not make any efforts to disrupt the press conference. While the largely partisan crowd often punctuated Perry's brief remarks with applause, protesters instead responded with what they call "spirit fingers." To quietly show their disagreement with Perry's statements, the group members would raise their hands, point their fingers downward and wiggle them.

One of the Occupy protesters took great pains to insist afterwards that the group is non-partisan, and just wanted to hear what Perry had to say. But based on the instances of downward finger-wiggling, the gulf between the Occupy Columbia group and the conservative Perry is a very wide one -- especially on economic matters, which Perry focused on Tuesday.

The Occupy Columbia protest, now in its 11th day, continues to take place night and day outside on the State House grounds.

In addition to the high-profile Harrell endorsement, Perry  in Laurens County on Tuesday morning, where he unveiled a new tax and economic plan, which would feature a 20% flat tax.

Perry, trying to stop his freefall in the GOP polls, was in the state Tuesday searching for critical support and to raise money. Once a front-runner in the state, Perry is now a distant third in the latest NBC News/Marist Poll, with nine percent support in South Carolina, far behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and current front-runner, businessman Herman Cain.

Having met earlier in the day with U. S. Sen. Jim DeMint, Perry was quickly
off after the Harrell announcement to meet with Gov. Nikki Haley and to fund-raise. Endorsements by Tea-Party stalwarts DeMint and Haley are highly coveted by the GOP field, though neither have yet annointed their favorite.

In addition to the Harrell announcement, Gov. Perry has previously been endorsed by nearly two dozen South Carolina GOP leaders. They include:

• U.S. Congressman Mick Mulvaney
• State Commissioner Hugh Weathers
• Ambassador David Wilkins
• State Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, Cherokee
• State Senator Paul Campbell, Berkeley
• State Senator Ronnie Cromer, Newberry
• State Senator Larry Grooms, Berkeley
• State Senator Mike Rose, Dorchester
• State Rep. Todd Atwater, Lexington
• State Rep. Liston Barfield, Horry
• State Rep. Eric Bedingfield, Greenville
• State Rep. Alan Clemmons, Horry
• State Rep. Marion Frye, Saluda
• State Rep. Dan Hamilton, Greenville
• State Rep. Bill Hixon, Aiken
• State Rep. Chip Limehouse, Charleston
• State Rep. Philip Lowe, Florence
• State Rep. Chris Murphy, Charleston
• State Rep. Bill Sandifer, Oconee
• State Rep. Gary Simrill, Rock Hill
• State Rep. Tommy Stringer, Greenville
• State Rep. Bill Taylor, Aiken
• State Rep. Mark Willis, Greenville