In Wednesday night’s Republican debate, Rick Perry experienced a horrifically embarrassing moment as he failed to remember which three departments of government he intended to eliminate if taking office. It only appeared to seem worse as other candidates attempted to help, whether it was the smiling Ron Paul or the EPA suggestion by Mitt Romney. Rick Perry’s campaign has attempted to move beyond this point and has made it clear that he will still be running. Even so, is this clip the nail in the coffin of his candidacy, or just more of the same?
To be fair, his campaign did do an incredible job with damage control. His website has offered fans to voice which department they wish they could “forget” about and he was up early the next morning on Good Morning America to voice his response. Even so, in combination with his New Hampshire “intoxicated” experience, an incredibly lively speech that even lead Saturday Night Live the opportunity to satirize it, the nail in the coffin appears to have been placed a while ago. Frankly, I thought the end of his campaign would’ve been when Mitt Romney shot him down in the last debate, who remarked that a real president needed to actually listen to others and not constantly interrupt.
What seems more important to me is why Republican primary voters are not more upset with Herman Cain. With four women accusing him of sexual allegations, and two so far coming out publically after being dared to by Mr. Cain himself, you’d wonder how he is still considered a serious contender. Yet still, in recent polls, two thirds of Republicans are not negatively affected by this kind of news. So much for family values.
