T-Squared: Rick Perry, Newsweek and the Trib

Now it can be told: The Governor of Texas is on the cover of this week's issue of the venerable newsmagazine as part of its first-ever collaboration with The Texas Tribune. The cover was shot Thursday on an upper floor of 1005 Congress Avenue, with the Capitol in the background, and I interviewed him not long after in his office on the second floor of the Capitol. We talked for thirty-five minutes about a range of topics: the Tea Party, his beef with the federal government, health care reform, Mexico, the state budget, redistricting, whether he's an insider or an outsider, what he thinks about the presidency of George W. Bush and — while we're on the topic — whether he plans to run for the White House himself ... and his answer could not have been more definitive.

The cover package features not only the exclusive Newsweek/Texas Tribune interview of Perry but also a profile of the Governor by Newsweek's Evan Thomas and Arian Campo-Flores; an essay, also by me, about the State Board of Education's social studies curriculum revisions; and a piece by Newsweek's Daniel Gross about the robust economic health of the state.

My interview with Perry appears on Newsweek's web site and in the magazine (on newsstands Monday) in abbreviated form. A much longer version, as well as the full and unedited audio of our conversation, will be published by the Trib on Monday at 5 a.m.