Republican Debate: Rick Perry Forgets Key Part of Policy in Major Gaffe (U.K. Telegraph View)

U.K. Telegraph, London (a.m. edition) ^ | 10 November 2011 | Toby Harnden, Telegraph Reporter in USA

[AmericanInTokyo]

"Governor Rick Perry of Texas suffered one of the worst stumbles in American presidential debate history when he spent nearly a minute trying and failing to remember the name of a government department he had vowed to abolish....

[AmericanInTokyo]

...In just 53 seconds, a campaign that was already in trouble after previous shaky debate performances by Mr Perry was plunged into crisis."

---------------------

It's not very pretty.

Even across the pond, with British reporting. Even the final graph of the Telegraph story concluded as such: "But Republican as well as Democratic strategists were declaring his candidacy moribund even before the debate was over. Michael Barone, a conservative and political historian, said it was “it was the worst moment in a debate I have ever seen” in 50 years of elections."

[no dems]

Can you imagine what a rough night Rick Perry will put over tonight trying to sleep?

[onyx]

Romney’s campaign jumped right on it.

[AmericanInTokyo]

I wish him a good sleep and safety. This may just be too much out of his league, but it is something he will have to decide. I believe his spokesman Ray Sullivan talked at one time about sitting out debates, but the point is, you just a) gotta show up for these things, and b) do well.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

....Michael Barone, a conservative and political historian, said it was “it was the worst moment in a debate I have ever seen” in 50 years of elections."...

Perry has stated this is not the platform where he shines. He's a doer not a talker. Though he does talk well and he has the record in Texas to show he's a doer (including taking on the Energy Dept, the Ed Department and the EPA).

Style, Substance, Perry, and the Media ....."One of the edited clips concerned Perry's use of New Hampshire motto "Live Free or Die" and the Alamo rally call of "Death or Victory." Perry was high-spirited in his comparison, using a loud "Bring It" emphasized with arm motions. The edited clip ends at this point, but in the actual speech, Perry segued to an inspiring two-minute discussion of freedom and its meaning to the governor and to Americans. He said, "Government exists to protect our rights and guarantee our freedom." Compare this thought to the authoritarian use of executive orders that is our current governmental paradigm. Small wonder the left-leaning video editor did not include Perry's description of freedom."....

[2ndDivisionVet]

[AmericanInTokyo]

Its all over the world now. German press. French press. Brit press. Singapore. Korea. Italy. Have not seen in Japan yet but will come soon.

[sandboxshooter]

Oh come on, in this day of age, many people around the world watched it live, just like Americans. Here I sit in Baghdad and I get many of the channels I have on my TV back home from satellite available all over the middle east. Including channels and shows we’re so proud for the world to see about us, like Springer, Cheaters, etc.....It doesn’t have to be reported on their news anymore...they get it live. Guess it’d be asking too much for them to show equally the O’s screwups...not gonna happen though.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Yes, but is it voiced over live, as it airs, in the local language (Arabic), or subtitled (in Arabic)? What I am getting at is that the speed by which it made it into the foreign press in their languages was startling (Spiegel, and others in this case). Of course, I realize you can get this stuff just about everywhere except North Korea (where you would be shot for watching American TV unless you were in the Public Security Bureau practicing English for your overseas agents to handle more efficiently).

أتمنى لك يوماً سعيداً Stay safe.

[Cronos]

so then he should carry notes with him.

[onyx]

When was that photo taken?

[T.L.Sink]

Not only did Perry express views inimical to conservatism in the first debate (giving taxpayer money to fund illegal alien higher education) but in the second he did something even worse than advocate a bad policy: He looked STUPID!He’s had his 15 minutes of fame - NEXT!

[sandboxshooter]

Huge huge numbers speak english very well. Walking around Dubai, it’s almost all you hear. And with all the continuous Arabic news shows, it doesn’t take long to get voiced over....I would guess if I checked the channels, its already all over the news on the Arabic channels.

[iontheball]

The real problem with this type of gaffe, is that it discloses that the candidate really does not own the statement. It is a manufactured policy statement that Perry has not deeply studied or thought hard about. This is the same problem Obama has when he is off teleprompter. He has not spent serious time thinking about any of the issues he talks about. Contrast that with Newt, who must spend most of his awake hours pondering issues of the day. He owns his thoughts on each one and it clearly shows.

[ravenwolf]

Human beings make mistakes, and they can correct them and that is the beauty of being a human being instead of a socialist fed robot, hang in there Rick Perry.

[ScottinVA]

“I can handle Obama in a debate.”

—Rick Perry

[ScottinVA]

I`m not a Perry backer, but up until that moment, I was kind of impressed he seemed to have sharpened it up on the debate stage...

...and then came the vapor lock.

[ScottinVA]

One of those painful, embarrassing moments in which that sought word simply won`t come. It sucks..and it happens.

[ejonesie22]

You need to bail with a bigger bucket...

[X-FID]

To me it sounds like he's just telling his base what they want to hear. Why was he so unprepared otherwise.

Happy birthday USMC!