Death-loving prayer overlord Rick Perry is getting ready to launch a presidential campaign, it appears! And in his first act as a kinda-maybe frontrunner, he plans to screw over Tim Pawlenty and/or Michele Bachmann in Iowa.

Politico hears from several anonymous flacks that Perry will "make clear" that he plans to run for the presidency on Saturday at a South Carolina conference put together by the RedState blog. (Stop patting yourself on the back again, Erick Erickson!) So he won't officially launch a campaign, but he will secretly promise it, with signals of some sort. A middle finger will mean "yes, I am running for president," a peace sign will indicate "I am going back to Texas to kill more innocent people," and if he does the Electric Slide, then it's time for a revolution.

After the speech, he'll head to New Hampshire for a meet-and-greet with select supporters in some rich lady's house.

Saturday, of course, is the day of the big Ames Straw Poll, which traditionally offers a big boost of momentum to the winner. Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann are the two big contenders this year, since Mitt Romney thinks he's too good to compete. A major Rick Perry news day could suck up all the media attention from a Pawlenty or Bachmann win, which is why Rick Perry plans on creating a major Rick Perry news day.

Would Rick Perry's entrance be a "game-changer" of Donald-Trump-as-Treasury-Secretary magnitude? No. It would be bigger.

[Image via AP]