Does Perry's Endorsement Matter?

Longshot presidential candidate Rick Perry dropped out of the race Thursday morning in Charleston. It was the same South Carolina town where he launched his run in late summer.

At one point considered a leader in the GOP race, the Texas governor ultimately proved not ready for primetime after a series of embarrassing gaffes and poor debate performances.

"As I have contemplated the future of this campaign, I have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path to victory for my candidacy in 2012," Perry said. "Therefore, today I am suspending my campaign, and endorsing Newt Gingrich for president.

"I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country. We have had our differences, which campaigns inevitably bring out. And Newt is not perfect, but who among us is?"

Kerry Wood, South Carolina director for Rick Santorum's campaign, said he believed Santorum gained votes after Michele Bachmann's departure. He expects the former Pennsylvania senator will pick up some steam from Perry supporters.

"Honestly I'm just completely indifferent to it (Perry's endorsement of Gingrich)," Wood said. "I don't think it matters who he endorses. I think his voters identify with Rick Santorum and I think we'll get the bulk of his supporters."

Gingrich's campaign did not provide Patch with a statement about Perry's endorsement, but Gingrich himself referenced Perry's dropping out while speaking at a campaign stop in Beaufort.

Gingrich said he was "honored and humbled" by Perry's endorsement.

"He (Perry) understands exactly the mission of defending and expanding freedom and he understands that every citizen has different ways to participate," Gingrich said.

Gingrich said he will plan on utilizing Perry's passion for state sovereignty to build a strong states' rights platform.

"I have asked him to head up a 10th amendment enforcement project reaching out to every governor in both parties, reaching to mayors and county commissions, reaching out to legislators," Gingrich said.

While Santorum supporters still see their candidate as more similar to Perry than Perry is to Gingrich, and Gingrich's camp hopes Perry's endorsement is a harbinger of future conservative coalescence against Romney, the next 48 hours could just be about negligible differences.

"My guess is his votes will be divided between Gingrich and Santorum, if they vote," said Danielle Vinson, chair of Furman University's political science department. "I'm not really sure how much Perry's endorsement will really matter to his voters. Folks around here were shocked he was reported to be endorsing Gingrich. I don't see Perry supporters going to Romney. They were sticking with Perry because they didn't like the others, so some of them may just stay home."