Gov. Perry Tells NewsBusters He's Just 'Fighting on a Different Front'

Filed from CPAC 2012 in Washington, D.C. -- Shortly before noon Eastern today, Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) walked through the bloggers lounge here at CPAC, answering a few questions from reporters and bloggers. 

I asked Gov. Perry if, in light of the Obama administration's move to force Catholic institutions to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees, he felt vindicated about his claims of an Obama administration war on religion. His response:

Well, listen, I feel vindicated every time I read a news report and I see either Gov. Romney or Speaker Gingrich or Rick Santorum, or the president, talking about an issue that we brought up and injected into the national debate. 

Perry failed to dwell on the contraceptive issue, choosing instead to critique the Obama administration on a whole host of other issues:

You know, it is an interesting thing for me to hear the President of the United States using the phrase "boots on the ground" dealing with our border when a year ago he was talking about how safe the border with Mexico and the United States was. So, we're even seeing the president picking up some of the-- and from that perspective, listen, I haven't left the fight. I went home, I reloaded my mag, and I'm fighting on a different front.

You can watch the video here.