Rick Perry Says Bachmann, Santorum Lack National Organization to Continue

Charles Krupa/AP Photo

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - Texas Gov. Rick Perry views the road beyond Iowa as one working more in his favor than in Michele Bachmann's or Rick Santorum's, saying the two rivals, who are competing for the same conservative evangelical votes, have no national organization to be viable in other primary states.

"I agree that Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann don't have a national organization in place nor the fundraising ability to go forward out of Iowa, and so I'm the only one that actually has that ability," Perry said during an interview on Fox News today, also noting that regardless of the outcome in Tuesday's caucuses, he'll "be going across the country, South Carolina, into Florida, into Nevada, with a national campaign."

Perry also continued his criticism of Santorum in an NBC News interview, slamming him for supporting earmarks and responding to Santorum's spoof of Perry's "oops" moment Sunday, insisting that you can eliminate federal agencies.

"He's part of the problem because you've got a culture there, a person who has been in Washington, D.C., so long, who doesn't understand what the American people," Perry said this morning on the "Today Show." "Does Rick Santorum want Washington to tell the people of Iowa how to educate their children? I don't think so. I can promise you, there are a substantial number of agencies of government that we could do away with and Americans wouldn't miss them at all."

Perry hit back hard against Politico for running a story this weekend based entirely on anonymous sources discussing the dissent within his campaign.

"When an organization that is supposedly legitimate will not name names, that tells me that they're listening to rumor and innuendo. This is a total inside the Beltway story, my campaign's working smoothly," Perry said in the FOX News interview.

During an interview with Politico Sunday, Perry became combative when asked about the dysfunction in his campaign. "You got a name? You got a name? You got a name? If you don't have a name to tell me, this individual said this and I don't take that as a corroborated source," Perry said to Politico's Mike Allen.

"I do take a little offense when you run a story and you can't tell me who is saying something that you're using as a negative story, so you know don't come to me and say respond to this and you're either not willing or I don't have a name."