You mean sort of like GW Bush, who lost every debate he ever had and served 8 years as US president?
That's some memory you've got there. Bush kicked Gore's arse in their second debate and the third was called a draw.
Perry is worse, but yeah, something like that. Let's never, ever nominate a candidate who has such poor communication skills again. GW Bush was never able to really advance conservatism much if at all, and his administration was constantly fumbling around with an inability to coherently fight back against the media and critics. We can thank the Democrats nominating a buffoon like John Kerry for the fact Bush was able to win the 2nd term.
Think of it like this. If you've ever watched England's Prime Ministers Questions where the PM actually has to speak coherently and answer questions on the fly, I'd say that is the minimum required to be an effective communicator and a President who can lead. I agree with Perry on almost all the issues. I really don't care about HPV and am willing to forgive him some of the immigration stuff. I am not, however, willing to vote in the primaries for a candidate who can't communicate. And so far, that is precisely the problem I have with Perry. I'm still giving him a chance, I hope he does better, I am in no way anti-Perry, but as of now I question whether he can recover because I have my doubts about his ability to speak clearly and intellectually defend WHY conservative governance is the correct path forward.