CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA-The many of the nation's eyes shifted focus from the Iowa Straw poll today to the state of South Carolina as Texas Governor Rick Perry announced his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States.

Perry, who is not participating in the Iowa Straw poll, made his announcement the same hour candidates were pitching for straw votes in that state. Shortly before his announcement, also he launched his new presidential campaign website, rickperry.org.

Governor Perry has been surging in the polls recently, he is the favorite of the Tea Party movement and also has broad appeal with Republican voters for his fiscal conservatism and for the job growth that has taken place in Texas, as the rest of the nation is suffering from job loss. That appeal to the Tea Partiers is likely to draw support from Bachmann’s base.

Perry said in Charleston today, “I came to South Carolina, because I will not sit back and accept the path that America is on. It is time to get America working again; and that’s why, with the support of my family, an unwavering belief in the goodness of America, I declare to you today as a candidate for president of the United States.”

He also pointed to his origins as a son in a West Texas plains tenant farming family as a factor in his faith and thrift as well as hard work ethics.

Perry pointed repeatedly to the job growth of his state, growth not seen in other states, as he poked at the policies of the Obama administration, at one point accusing the present administration of “prolonging our national misery.”

These accusations ushered in an immediate response from the White House as Spokesman Ben LaBolt fired back stating, “Gov. Perry allowed special interests to write their own rules, hired corporate lobbyists to oversee corporations, and cut funding for programs that would create opportunity for middle class families. In a Republican field that has already pledged allegiance to the Tea Party and failed to present any plan that will benefit the middle class or create the jobs America needs to win the future, Governor Perry offers more of the same.” Of the employment record, he said, “No miracle, it’s a tall tale.”

Perry succeeded the Governorship of Texas from Bush. He has been the longest serving Governor of that state.