He is hoping that an early test vote Saturday in the battleground state of Florida will help him defend his campaign and calm jitters about him.
Republicans in early voting states, once excited about the Texas governor's presidential bid, are openly questioning the strength of his candidacy. High expectations have been met by the sudden national scrutiny that comes with the front-runner bull's-eye.
Perry is leading national polls, but he is also facing intensifying criticism from the right and left. Some Republicans in Iowa and New Hampshire are expressing doubts, especially after debates in which rivals raised questions about his record on immigration, public health and Social Security retirement benefits.
Perry was looking to send a message to his rivals with a strong showing in a nonbinding straw poll Saturday of Florida Republicans. But two of his main rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, both left Florida before the voting began and their campaigns discounted the straw poll's role in the campaign.
Other first-tier candidates hadn't actively organized for the Florida vote, either. So the results, expected in the evening, probably won't shuffle the campaign's standings and were shaping up as little more than a popularity contest among the delegates selected by local party organizations.
Ahead of the test vote, Perry's campaign bought breakfast for hundreds of the party faithful assembled for a three-day conference and debate. Perry said skipping the straw poll was a blunder.
"I think that's a big mistake. I think it's very important," Perry said, citing its history.
Previous straw polls have predicted the Republican nominee.
Ronald Reagan won in 1979, George H.W. Bush in 1987 and Kansas Sen. Bob Dole in 1995. The Republican Party of Florida, however, has not organized the test vote in recent years.
A Florida poll victory could prove helpful, especially ahead of Friday's deadline for reporting the latest quarteerly fundraising figures.
On Friday and Saturday, he sought to turn the debate performance into an advantage.
"What Americans are looking for isn't the slickest candidate, they're looking for an authentic, principled leader," he told the delegates - a jab at both Romney, who fared well in the debate, and President Obama, who is noted for his rhetorical abilities. "You've seen what happens when our country chooses a leader who chooses words over deeds," he added.
Even if he can convince voters that his lack of debate prowess is an asset, Perry may face a bigger challenge in overcoming opposition by many Republican conservatives to his immigration policies. His impassioned defense during the debate of one of his more controversial moves - ¬ accusing those who oppose in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants of not having a heart - ¬ may have backfired.
In a speech Friday to Florida's Conservative Political Action Conference, Romney offered a zinger of a retort: "I think if you're opposed to illegal immigration, it doesn't mean that you don't have a heart. It means that you have a heart and a brain," he said.
Some voters here agree, saying that they like Perry's conservative stances but are troubled by his history with immigration policy, which Romney likened to giving subsidies to illegal immigrants.
But if Perry does win the nomination, it is likely to help him chip away at the 67 percent of Latino voters who supported Mr. Obama in 2008.
It remains to be seen whether Perry's outspoken conservative stances on other issues will be enough to help him overcome the enthusiasm that crowds here have shown for candidates like businessman Herman Cain, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, all of whom are appealing to the same fiscally- and socially-conservative base as is Perry.
Either way, the Texas governor looks like he's cast a long-term eye on the state that helped deliver him his job for the first time in 2000.
"It's great to be here in the state that picks presidents," he told the audience on Saturday. "That's what Florida does.
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