The Hill News

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he does not know Texas Gov. Rick Perry's plans for 2012, but thinks the governor should run for the Republican presidential nomination.

"He should run. I think he will run," Cornyn said Wednesday on the Laura Ingraham radio show. "He's got great political instincts and he's got a great record to run on."

He also joked that Perry has "good hair."

But on a serious note, Cornyn said: "it's policy, not personality, that's going to make a difference."

Cornyn, the head of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign, has said before Perry would be a strong contender for the GOP nomination.

He told The Hill in June that if Perry "decided to run, he woul! d definitely be a contender. There's some appetite for other candidates, to get in, and he may well fill that niche."

Although Perry has not declared his candidacy, signs indicate that an announcement could come soon. There are reports he's spoken to potential supporters in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. And, on Tuesday, almost 50 Republican donors met in Austin to discuss how Perry could raise the money needed to compete in the primary campaign.

Despite being an undeclared candidate, Perry polls in third place for the nomination, behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Michele Bachmann, in a Tuesday poll from NBC News/Wall Street Journal.