Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday he "absolutely" would consider running for president again.
"It's a long time until 2016 and a lot of good things could happen," he told MSNBC's Chuck Todd. "My plan is for Mitt Romney to win and for him to get this country back on track, and I'll keep running the best state in the nation."
Perry previously has said that his decision about another bid for the White House will be made "way down the road." He has not yet announced whether he is running for reelection as Texas governor in 2014.
Perry is at the Republican National Convention this week in Tampa, Fla., although he does not have a speaking slot on the schedule.
Perry dropped his bid for the GOP presidential nomination in January, first endorsing Newt Gingrich in the primaries but getting behind Mitt Romney in April when Gingrich indicated he would also leave the race.
He told a CBS affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth in April that if he did enter another presidential race, he would start preparing early. He has cited his decision to enter the race in the summer last year as one reason his campaign struggled.
