GINGRICH DOWN, IS PERRY IN? – AT 9:26 P.M. ET:   The big political news of the day is that Newt Gingrich's entire senior campaign staff has resigned.

The official story is that the staff had differences with Gingrich over the way his campaign for president should be run.  But there's a much more intriguing element here.  Two of the group that resigned – Campaign Manager Rob Johnson and adviser Dave Carney – are very close to Texas Governor Rick Perry.  It's been speculated several times that Perry would never run for president unless he could have these two on board.  Now he'll have that chance, and one has to wonder whether Perry sent a signal to Johnson and Carney that he's getting into the race.  From CBS:

Texas Governor Rick Perry is "serious" about making a run for the White House, sources close to Perry tell CBS News.

Perry has been talking with financial backers for the past week on a possible bid and even held a conference call earlier in the week to discuss the matter, the sources told CBS's Jan Crawford.

But Perry was reluctant to run for the nomination without key advisers, including his former campaign manager Rob Johnson and his top political consultant Dave Carney...

COMMENT:  I think we'll see Perry make the jump soon, and he could well be formidable.  Of course, he's never campaigned outside Texas, so it remains to be seen how he will play in other parts.  He's giving a major address soon to a Republican group in New York City, and it will be instructive to gauge their reaction.

Gets more interesting every day.

June 9, 2011