RELATED: Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the onetime Republican front-runner who had hoped to regain traction in a candidates’ debate Wednesday, instead suffered what may have been the worst memory meltdown in the history of presidential debates. “I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone: Commerce, Education, and — what’s the third one there? Let’s see,” Perry said, struggling to remember the third federal department he repeatedly has promised on the stump to eliminate. Texas Rep. Ron Paul suggested the Environmental Protection Agency as an option. Pressed by moderator John Harwood to name the third agency, Perry finally acknowledged, “The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.” The next time the Texas governor was called on, he had remembered — “That was the Department of Energy that I was reaching for a while ago” — but it was too late to avoid damage to a presidential bid that has been sinking. After the debate, Perry told reporters, “I’m sure glad I had my boots on because I sure stepped in it out there.” Perry’s stumble was the moment sure to become an instant classic on YouTube from a debate in which former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney seemed in his element and businessman Herman Cain was forced to address allegations of sexual harassment that have surfaced since the last such forum. MORE
RELATED: The spark many thought would happen between Rick Perry and South Carolinians has so far failed to ignite, according to a statewide poll from Clemson University out today. The survey of 600 likely Republican primary voters in the state has Perry in fourth place, netting 9 percent, which trails Mitt Romney in first with 22 percent, Cain with 20 percent and Newt Gingrich with 10 percent. Allegations of sexual harassment against Cain broke in the middle of the survey (Oct. 30) conducted between Oct. 27 and Nov. 7. Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann each had 3 percent of primary voters. Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum both had 1 percent. Rick Perry’s support in the state has declined from a 30 percent high in a September Winthrop University poll and flattened to around 10 percent for the past two months. Perry announced his candidacy in Charleston in August. MORE
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