Rick Perry insists he’s not running for president, but, in media that span the political spectrum, pundits can't stop speculating about a possible Perry candidacy for President in 2012.

Like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who joked that he’d have to commit suicide to stop the rumors of his own candidacy, Perry can’shake the story of his purported presidential campaign.

The rumors hit fever pitch this week when radio host Rush Limbaugh spent 20-minutes praising Perry as the kind of anti-Washington conservative who could pierce President Barack Obama’s aura of re-election invincibility and drive Democrats "nuts".

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Unlike the announced Republican candidates, Perry has the “potential to light this up,” Limbaugh said.

There’s no concrete evidence to confirm the Perry for President rumors. The news reports cite anonymous sources “close to Perry” or engage in pure speculation.

Still, the official line from Austin remains the same: “Gov. Perry has repeatedly said he is not running for president,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner said Wednesday, “and that has not changed.”

It's goes without saying that there's no love lost between Rick Perry and the Obama White House. Many people say that's why Texas was passed over when NASA was finding new homes for the retiring Space Shuttle fleet, and it's why Perry was ignored when he asked Obama to declare west Texas a federal disaster area because of wildfires.

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